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FAIRY TALES FROM FAR AND NEAR 


Ig SCatljariue •Pglp 

The Christmas Angel 
A s the Goose Flies 
Nancy Rutledge 
In the Green Forest 
Wonder Tales Retold 
Tales of Folk and Fairies 
Tales of Wonder and Magic 
Fairy Tales from Far and Near 








































































I hen the two old Eagles flew away. Frontispiece. 
See Page 4 


FAIRY TALES FROM 
FAR AND NEAR 


WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED 


BY 


KATHARINE PYLE 


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BOSTON 

LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 


1922 


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Copyright, 1922, 

By Little, Brown, and Company. 


All rights reserved 
Published September, 1922 



PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


SEP 23 'll 

©CI.A683370 


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CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Little Surya Bai. A Hindoo Story i 

The Princes and the Friendly Animals. A 

Lithuanian Story 25 

Graciosa and Percinet. A French Story . . 52 

The Giant’s Cliff. An Irish Story ... 97 

The Story of Conn-Eda. An Irish Tale . .112 

The Blue Belt. A Norse Tale .... 138 

The Dutiful Daughter. A Korean Story . 175 

The Oat Cake. A Scotch Story .... 202 

The Dreamer. An English Story . . . 210 

The Story of Harka. An American Indian Tale 221 
Schippeitaro. A Japanese Story . . . .235 

Eros and Psyche. A Greek Tale . . . 245 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


Then the two old Eagles flew away Frontispiece 


As fast as she touched them each one 
was turned into a stone figure 

The serpents reared up and opened their 
fiery jaws . 

When she saw the bear she cried aloud 
with terror . 

The king bade her step into the flower. 
She did so, and at once the leaves 
closed about her .... 

As soon as he saw the oat cake he was 
wide awake again in a moment 

When he reached the farther shore, he 
turned and looked back . 

Soon she came to the river and saw the 
boat lying there .... 


page 43 
“ 128 

“ 169 


193 

209 

232 


270 



. > 


V* 


I 



FAIRY TALES FROM 
FAR AND NEAR 


LITTLE SUEYA BAI 
A Hindoo Story 

There was once a poor peasant woman who 
sold milk. Every day she filled her cans with 
milk and went to a near-by town and sold it, 
returning with her cans empty. 

One day, when she set out she took her little 
baby daughter with her. In each hand the 
mother carried a milk can, and the baby held to 
her skirt and walked close beside her. 

Suddenly two great eagles appeared, wheeling 
about in the sky, and one of them dropped down 
and seized the child and flew away with it ; the 
other eagle, which was its mate, followed it. 

The woman cried aloud and dropped her milk 
cans, and ran along after the eagles, but they 
quickly disappeared in the distance. The 


i 


LITTLE SURYA BAI 


woman beat upon her breast and wailed bitterly, 
but nothing she could say or do could bring her 
child back to her. 

The eagle flew on and on with the baby until 
they reached the tree where they lived. There 
the father eagle, who had carried her, laid her 
gently on the grass. 

He and his mate were so delighted with the 
child and her pretty ways that they determined 
to keep her. 

They built a house for her high in the top 
of the tree. The house was made of iron, and 
was very strong, and it had seven iron doors and 
there was a key for each one of them so it could 
be locked. In this house the little girl lived with 
a little dog and cat the eagles had brought her for 
company. 

The eagles loved the child dearly and named 
her Surya Bai, which means Sun Lady. They 
brought her food and beautiful clothes, — clothes 
such as princesses wear, and magnificent jewels. 
Each day, after they had set forth, Surya Bai 
locked the doors so she would be safe. Then she 
played about the house with the little dog and 


2 


A HINDOO STORY 


cat and was well contented. In the evening, 
when the eagles came home, they would knock, 
and Surya Bai would unlock the seven doors, one 
after another, and let them in. Always they 
brought her some pretty present. 

One day the mother eagle said, “ Our Surya 
Bai has now everything she needs except a dia- 
mond ring to wear upon her finger. It makes me 
sad that she should not have a diamond ring.” 

“Yes,” replied the father eagle, “ she ought to 
have one, and I will go out and find one for her.” 

“But an ordinary diamond ring will not do,” 
said his mate. “ Once, far away, upon the bor- 
ders of the Red Sea, I saw a princess walking, and 
on her finger she wore a ring so bright and daz- 
zling it was like the sun in splendor. It is such a 
ring as that that I wish to give to our Sun 
Lady.” 

“In that case we will fly away to the Red Sea 
and get one for her,” said the father eagle. 

So the two birds arranged to set out the next 
day, and as it would take a long time to make the 
journey, they brought to Surya Bai enough food 
to last for six months. They then cautioned her 
3 


LITTLE SURYA BAI 

not to open the door to any one while they were 
gone, and not to leave the house for any reason 
whatever, and to keep the fire always burning on 
the hearthstone. Then the two old eagles flew 
away, and they were sad to leave her. 

Now after they had gone, Surya Bai went 
about the house and set it in order. Every day 
she cooked food for herself and the little dog and 
cat, and fed them, and she played with them, 
and they were very happy together. Then one 
day, when she was cooking dinner, the little cat 
crept close to her, and while Surya Bai was 
not looking stole the very choicest bits of the 
dinner and ate them up very quickly. 

When Surya Bai turned round and saw what 
the cat had done, she was very angry. “Now 
I shall punish you because you are a thief,” she 
said. 

She took a little switch and beat the cat with 
it. That made the cat very angry, and it ran 
over to the hearth and upset the pot of water 
over the fire and put it out. Then Surya Bai 
did not know what to do. She had now no way 
to cook the food for herself and the little dog and 
4 


A HINDOO STORY 

cat, and as they could not eat it raw, for three 
days they went hungry. 

At the end of that time Surya Bai made up her 
mind to go out and try to get some fire some 
place. She said to the dog and cat, “If the 
eagles could know how hungry we are, I am sure 
they would be willing for me to go.” 

“Yes,” said the little cat, “ but you must not 
go too far, for just beyond here is the Rakshas’ 
country ; and if you go there, some Rakshas may 
catch you and never let you come back.” 

“What is a Rakshas ?” asked Surya Bai. 

Now Rakshas are demons and very dangerous, 
but the cat would not tell Surya Bai that, be- 
cause she thought if Surya Bai knew about them 
she would be afraid to go for the fire. So she 
said, “I cannot tell you what they are,” and 
then she sat down in a corner and washed her 
fur and would not answer any more questions. 

“At any rate, we must have the fire,” said 
Surya Bai. So she unlocked the seven doors, one 
after another, and climbed down from the tree 
and set out on her journey. 

She went on and on for a long way and then, 

S 


LITTLE SURYA BAI 


without knowing it, she really did come into the 
country of the Rakshas. There she saw a house, 
and in it was an old, old\voman, bending over a 
fire. She was so old that her nose and chin al- 
most met, and so crooked she was like a bent 
stick. Her gray hair fell over her eyes in a mat, 
and her teeth were long and yellow, and she was 
a Rakshas. 

When she saw the maiden, she asked her who 
she was, and where she had come from, and what 
was her errand. 

Surya Bai told her she came from a little house 
that had been built for her by a pair of eagles in 
a tree top far away. She told her the eagles were 
away from home, for they had gone to fetch her 
a diamond ring from far away and had left her 
with only a little dog and cat for companions. 
“ And now the cat has put out the fire,” said she, 
“and I have no way to cook the food. We are 
very hungry, so give me, I beg of you, a little of 
your fire to carry home with me.” 

Now the old woman Rakshas had a son who 
was very strong and terrible, but he was away 
from home on some business. “What a pity he 
6 


A HINDOO STORY 


is not here/’ thought the old woman. “This 
pretty little girl would make a fine morsel for 
him. I will try to keep her until he returns, 
so that he may have her for his supper/’ 

So she made her voice as soft and friendly as 
she could, and said, “You may have the fire and 
welcome, but pound this rice for me before you 
go, for my arms are too weak and old for pound- 
ing. After that you shall have the fire.” 

Surya Bai was very obliging. She pounded 
the rice and pounded and pounded, but still the 
young Rakshas did not come, and presently she 
had finished. 

“Now give me the fire,” said the maiden. 

But the old woman still wished to keep her. 
“I have no daughter to help me,” said she. 
“Grind this corn for me, I beg of you, and then 
I will give you the fire.” 

Surya Bai ground the corn, but still the Rak- 
shas had not come. 

“ I have pounded the rice and ground the corn ; 
now give me the fire that I may be gone,” said 
the maiden. 

But still the old woman detained her. “Why 

7 


LITTLE SURYA BAI 


should you be in such a hurry ? Just fetch me 
some water from the well, and then you shall 
have the fire.” 

Surya Bai went to the well and fetched the old 
woman the water. Still the Rakshas had not re- 
turned. 

“I have served you willingly,” said the 
maiden, “ and now I must be gone, and if you will 
not give me the fire, I must seek it elsewhere.” 

Then the old woman knew she could keep 
Surya Bai no longer. “ You may have the fire,” 
said she, “and you are more than welcome to it. 
I will also give you a bag of corn, and as you go 
you can strew it along, so as to make a little 
golden pathway between your house and mine.” 

This the old woman said because she thought 
if the girl left a trail behind her, the Rakshas 
could follow her to where she lived and catch her 
there. 

But Surya Bai had no fear of evil, for she 
had always been treated kindly. She thought 
the old Rakshas was a very friendly old woman. 

She took the fire and the corn also, and as she 
went home she scattered the corn along the way. 

8 


A HINDOO STORY 


When the girl reached the tree where the house 
was, she climbed up and went inside, shutting 
and locking the seven iron doors behind her, one 
after the other. She cooked the meal and fed 
the dog and fed the cat, and then as she was very 
tired, she lay down and fell fast asleep. 

Now very soon after she left the Rakshas* 
house, the young Rakshas came home, and he 
was very fierce and terrible to look at. At once 
his mother began to scold at him. 

“Why are you so late ? ” she cried. “A young 
maiden has been here, a fine and dainty morsel, 
all pink and white, and as tender as a bird, and 
you might have had her for your supper if only 
you had returned earlier, in time to catch 
her.” 

When the Rakshas heard this, his eyes grew 
red as fire, and he gnashed his teeth together with 
rage. 

“Which way did she go?” he bellowed. 
“Which way did she go? I’ll follow her and 
catch her however far she ’s gone.” 

“You’ll have no trouble finding the way,” re- 
plied his mother, “for I gave her corn to scatter 
9 


LITTLE SURYA BAI 


as she went along, so as to make a pathway. 
Just follow the corn, and you’ll soon find her.” 

At once the Rakshas set off. So fast he went 
that the ground was burned up beneath him. 
It did not take him long to reach the little house 
in the tree top, but Surya Bai was safely inside, 
and all the seven iron doors were locked behind 
her. 

The Rakshas beat on the door and called to 
her to come and open. “I am your father, the 
eagle, returned from his journey,” he called to her. 
“Open quickly, dear child, that I may put the 
diamond ring upon your pretty finger.” 

But Surya Bai did not open the door or answer, 
for she was fast asleep and the little cat and dog 
were asleep also. 

The Rakshas began to tear at the iron door, 
but he could not stir it, and all he did was to 
break off one of his long brown nails, and then off 
he went, howling horribly, and leaving the nail 
still sticking in the crack of the door. 

A little while after he had gone, the cat awoke 
and wakened Surya Bai. “Surya Bai,” mewed 
the cat, “I dreamed the eagles had returned and 
io 


A HINDOO STORY 


were calling at the door for you to open it. You 
had better go and see if they are there.” 

Surya Bai at once arose and took the keys and 
opened the doors, one after another, and when 
she opened the seventh door, the Rakshas’ nail 
that he had broken off ran into her hand, so that 
she fell down as though she were dead ; for the 
fingernail of a Rakshas is very poisonous. 

Not long after that the eagles came home, and 
there they saw the doors all open and little Surya 
Bai lying on the threshold, seemingly dead. Then 
they were very sorrowful. They put the dia- 
mond ring upon her finger, and after that they 
flew away, uttering loud cries, and were never 
seen again ; but the cat and the dog stayed beside 
her and mourned over her. 

Now the very next day a handsome young 
Rajah 1 came by that way, hunting, and stopped 
under the very tree where the house was. He 
happened to look up, and there, high above him 
in the tree top, he saw something dark and 
large, and he could not tell what it was. So he 
bade one of his attendants climb up and see. 

1 King. 

II 


LITTLE SURYA BAI 


n The man climbed up as the Rajah bade him, 
and presently he came sliding down again, and 
he told his master that what he saw up there 
was a curious little house made of iron. The 
man told him the house had iron doors, but they 
were all open, and on the threshold of the first 
of the doors lay a lovely maiden. She lay there 
seemingly dead, but so beautiful he had never 
seen anything like her, and beside her sat a little 
cat and dog mourning for her. 

When the Rajah heard this, he became very 
curious to see the maiden, and he bade some of 
his people climb up and bring her down to where 
he was. 

t This they did, and the little cat and dog came 
with them. No sooner had the young Rajah 
seen the maiden than he fell violently in love with 
her because of her beauty, and he felt he could 
not live unless he could awaken her to life and 
have her for a wife. She did not look to him as 
though she were really dead, for her cheeks and 
lips had kept their color, and when he lifted her 
hand, it was soft and warm in his fingers. Then 
he saw something long and dark, that looked like 


12 


A HINDOO STORY 


a thorn, sticking in her hand. This was the 
Rakshas’ nail. 

The Rajah drew it out very slowly and care- 
fully, so as not to hurt her, and no sooner had 
he withdrawn it than life came back to the 
maiden, and she opened her eyes and breathed 
again. 

When the Rajah saw the change that had come 
over her he was filled with joy, and he told her 
who he was and what had happened, and he 
asked her whether she would come back to his 
palace with him and be his Ranee . 1 

To this Surya Bai willingly agreed, for he was 
so handsome and kind looking that she loved him 
the moment she saw him. So Surya Bai went 
home with the young Rajah, and they were 
married with great magnificence and rejoicing, 
and every one loved the young Ranee for her 
gentleness. Only the Rajah’s mother hated her. 
She was very angry that her son should have 
married a girl who had a pair of eagles for par- 
ents, and who had lived in an iron hut in the 
forest. She also envied Surya Bai because the 


1 Queen. 


LITTLE SURYA BAI 

Rajah had given her all the most magnificent 
jewels in the palace. Nothing was too good for 
the little new Ranee. 

“ This girl has bewitched him,” the mother said 
to herself, “but if she were only gone and out of 
his sight, he would soon forget her.” So she 
was always plotting and planning to get rid of 
the young Ranee. 

Now there was an old woman about the palace, 
and she was very wise. She said to Surya Bai, 
“Do not trust the old Ranee. She is certainly 
planning some evil against you. I know her. 
She is jealous of you and so wicked that she 
would stop at nothing.” 

But Surya Bai would not listen to her. She 
was so good and gentle that she could not be- 
lieve evil of any one. 

One day Surya Bai and the Rajah’s mother 
were walking in the gardens, and the old woman 
was with them, for she was one of Surya Bai’s 
favorite attendants. 

Then the old Ranee said to the young Ranee, 
“Your jewels are very beautiful and fine. Even 
when I was a young Ranee my husband never 
14 


A HINDOO STORY 

gave me such beautiful jewels as those you have. 
Let me put them on just for a short time, I beg 
of you, that I also may know how it feels to be 
as magnificent as you are.” 

Then the old woman whispered in the girl’s 
ear, “Do not lend her your jewels. I know she 
is planning some evil against you.” 

But Surya Bai would not listen to her. She 
took off her jewels, all of them, and helped the 
old Ranee to put them on. She put the bracelets 
on the old Ranee’s arms, and the necklaces on 
her neck, and the earrings in her ears, — all her 
jewels she lent to the old Ranee. She hung them 
about her until she shone like the sun with the 
splendor of them all. 

When this was done the Rajah’s mother bade 
the old woman go back to the palace for a hand 
mirror that she might look at herself and see 
how fine she was now that she was dressed in all 
those jewels. 

The old woman did not want to go, but she 
was obliged to. 

When the old Ranee was alone with Surya Bai, 
she said to her, “Come, Surya Bai, let us go 
IS 


LITTLE SURYA BAI 


over to the bathing tank while we wait for the 
mirror, that I may look at myself in the water.” 

Still thinking no evil, Surya Bai went with her. 

Now the bathing tank was very deep ; it was 
only for people to swim in. When they came 
near the edge, the old Ranee leaned over and 
Surya ^Bai leaned over, too, to look in the 
water. Then the old Ranee gave her a push so 
that she fell in and sank out of sight below the 
waters. 

The wicked old Ranee waited for awhile, and 
then, as she saw nothing more of Surya Bai, she 
was satisfied that the girl was drowned, and she 
hurried back to her chamber and hid all the 
jewels. 

That night the Rajah could not find Surya Bai 
anywhere. No one knew what had become of 
her. The Rajah was like one distracted. He 
hunted for her everywhere. 

Then his mother said to him, “ I saw her walk- 
ing in the garden this morning with that old 
woman. If any harm has come to her, it is 
because of that wretch ; I feel sure of it. ” 

The Rajah at once sent for the old woman and 
16 


A HINDOO STORY 


questioned her, but she could tell him nothing 
about the young Ranee, for she had not seen her 
after she left her there in the garden with the 
Rajah’s mother. The old Ranee managed to 
make the Rajah feel very suspicious of the old 
woman, so he had her thrown into prison, and 
she lay there, very miserable. 

But Surya Bai had not been altogether 
drowned when she sank down into the tank. 
Instead she had changed into a beautiful golden 
flower that rose up and up through the waters 
until it reached the air. 

The next time the Rajah came to the gardens 
he saw something shining over in the bathing 
tank, and when he went nearer he found a 
beautiful golden flower growing up out of the 
water. Then at once he became quite happy. 
The flower made him think of little Surya Bai, 
and a load seemed lifted from his heart. Now 
every day he went out to the tank and spent 
long hours looking at the flower, and he talked 
to it as though it could hear him, and it never 
changed or withered. 

But soon the old Ranee became very anxious 
1 7 


LITTLE SURYA BAI 

“This flower certainly has something to do with 
Surya Bai. There is some magic about it,” she 
said to herself. 

So one night she took several men with her 
and went secretly out to where the flower was 
blooming, and made the men cut it down and 
take it away into the jungle and burn it. 

The next morning, when the Rajah went to 
the garden to visit the flower, he found it was 
gone. Then he was very unhappy, and he ques- 
tioned the keepers of the garden, but they could 
tell him nothing about it. 

But even when the flower was burned, that 
was not the end of the young Ranee. 

The wind caught up the ashes of the flower 
and blew them back into the garden, and they 
fell close beside the wall. From these ashes 
grew up a mango tree. It grew and grew until 
its top was higher than the garden walls and 
could be seen from the road outside the garden. 
Then upon the very topmost bough there bloomed 
a flower. In due time the petals of the flower fell, 
and the mango fruit was seen. The fruit grew 
larger and larger. Every day it grew, and it 


A HINDOO STORY 


shone with a rosy light as though there were a 
flame within it, and every day the Rajah came 
and looked at it, and when he looked he was 
happy, just as he had been when he looked at the 
golden flower. 

The fruit was almost ripe, but no one was al- 
lowed to touch it, for it was to be for the Rajah 
alone. 

Now one day the old milk woman who was 
Surya Bai’s mother was going home with her 
empty milk cans, and she sat down to rest out- 
side the wall of the Rajah’s garden. She sat 
near where the mango tree was growing, but it 
was inside the garden and she was outside. 
Then the mango bent its top and leaned farther 
and farther across the wall, and, quite suddenly, 
the great, rosy mango fell down and into the 
empty milk can of Surya Bai’s mother. 

The old woman was terrified. She thought, 
“If any one should see this mango in my milk 
can, they would think I was a thief and had 
stolen it, and I would be punished.” So she 
caught up her can and hurried home with it. 
Then she put it in the corner and heaped up 
19 


LITTLE SURYA BAI 

ever so many other empty milk cans on top 
of it. 

She said nothing about what had happened 
until that evening, when she and her husband 
and her eldest son were alone together and the 
other children were in bed, for she had a large 
family. Then she told them the whole story, — 
she told how she had sat down to rest in the shade 
of the wall, and how the mango had fallen into 
her milk can, and how she had brought it 
home and had put the can in the corner under 
all the other milk cans. 

“And now do you go and fetch the mango/’ 
said she to her husband, “and we will cut it and 
have a fine feast.” 

The husband went out to where the milk cans 
had been heaped up and began lifting them down, 
one after another, until he had come to the last 
one. Then he gave a great cry. 

“You told me a mango was in the milk can,” 
he cried to his wife, “but here is something very 
different.” 

The woman came running and looked into the 
can, and there was a tiny lady very magnificently 


20 


A HINDOO STORY 

dressed, like a Ranee, and when she stepped out 
from the can she was so beautiful that the whole 
room shone as though there were a star in it. 

The old man and woman could hardly believe 
their eyes. They were frightened, and yet they 
were delighted. 

The old woman said, “Now I am happy again 
as I have never been happy since the eagles flew 
away with my little baby daughter.” 

When she said that, the small Ranee looked 
at her wonderingly, but she said nothing, for it 
seemed she could not speak. 

After that the beautiful stranger lived there 
in the house with the old man and woman, and 
every day she grew so fast that at the end of a 
month she was as tall as an ordinary woman, 
but still she could not speak. 

It was not long before people knew that a 
most beautiful lady dressed like a Ranee was liv- 
ing with the old peasants. The news came even 
to the palace, so the Rajah heard about it, and 
he began to wonder whether it were possible this 
beautiful lady could be his lost Ranee. One 
day he set out with only his faithful councilor 


21 


LITTLE SURYA BAI 


for company, and went to the house of the old 
peasants and knocked on the door. 

The old woman who was Surya Bai’s mother 
looked out of the window, and when she saw the 
Rajah there, she was very much frightened. 
She took Surya Bai and hid her behind a heap 
of milk cans, for she feared if the Rajah saw the 
girl he might begin to ask questions and find 
how the mango had dropped into the can. 

After the girl was hidden, the old woman 
opened the door. 

“ I wish to see the stranger who is living here 
with you, and who is so beautiful, and is dressed 
like a Ranee/’ said the Rajah. 

“ I do not know what you mean,” cried the old 
woman. “No one lives here but me and my 
husband and children.” 

(This was true, only the old woman did not 
know it.) 

The Rajah questioned her, but she would make 
no other answer, and when he went through the 
house, he could see no one except the woman’s 
husband, who was very much frightened, and 
the children she had spoken of. 


22 


A HINDOO STORY 


Then the young Rajah went away, very sor- 
rowful, but still he could not help wondering 
whether the peasant had deceived him. So he 
sent for the old woman who had been Surya 
Bai’s companion, and who was in prison. 

“I wish you to go to such and such a place,” 
said he, “ and make friends with the peasant 
woman who lives there. Then, after you are 
friends, find out, if you can, whether a stranger 
has been living with her, and if so, who she is.” 

The old attendant did as the Rajah bade her. 
It did not take long for her to make friends with 
the peasant woman, and one day the old peasant 
allowed her to see the strange lady who was liv- 
ing with her. 

At once the attendant knew the stranger to 
be the lost Ranee, and she fell down and kissed 
her feet, and wept over her. 

Then she told the old peasant the whole story. 
She told her of how Surya Bai had lived with the 
eagles, and how the Rajah had found her and 
made her his wife, and how she had then disap- 
peared, and how the Rajah had mourned for her 
and sought her. 


*3 


LITTLE SURYA BAI 


When the old peasant heard this story, she 
was filled with wonder and with joy, for she knew 
then that Surya Bai was no other than the little 
daughter who had been carried away by the 
eagles. 

She could now no longer refuse to let the Rajah 
see Surya Bai, and he was sent for. When he 
came and saw his dear wife as well and as beauti- 
ful as ever, he could hardly contain himself for 
happiness. He took her in his arms, and wept 
over her and kissed her, and no sooner had he 
kissed her than her powers of speech came back, 
and she was no longer dumb. 

Then she told him the story of what had hap- 
pened to her, and of how she had been pushed 
into the tank, and how she had come to be where 
she was. 

The Rajah was very angry. He took Surya Bai 
back to the palace with him, and the wicked old 
Ranee was shut up in a tower where she was 
very miserable all the rest of her life, but the 
peasants and their children were raised to great 
wealth and honor, and Surya Bai and the Rajah 
lived happy forever after. 

24 


THE PRINCES AND THE FRIENDLY 
ANIMALS 


A Lithuanian Story 

There was once a King who had three sons, 
and he had also a stepdaughter. They all lived 
together in peace and happiness and had 
everything their hearts could desire. But after 
a time an enemy of the King came against 
him with a great army, and slew him, and 
took the kingdom and drove forth the Princes 
into the world, and their stepsister with 
them. 

The three and the one journeyed on and on 
together until they came to a deep forest, and 
there they saw a mother bear, and her three cubs 
were with her. 

The eldest Prince was about to shoot at her, 
but the bear cried out, “ Do not shoot, Prince, 
and I will give you my three cubs for servants, 
one for you, and one for each of your brothers.” 

25 


PRINCES AND THE ANIMALS 


To this the Prince agreed. He let the bear 
go away unharmed, and the three cubs followed 
after the three Princes, each one behind his 
own master. 

After they had gone a bit farther into the 
forest, they saw a lioness, and she also had 
three young ones with her. 

Now it was the second Prince who was about 
to shoot, but the lioness called to him, “Do 
not slay me, Prince, and I will give my three 
cubs to you and your brothers, one to each 
of you.” 

Thereupon the Prince allowed her to go un- 
harmed and the three young lions followed 
after the Princes with the bear cubs. 

Soon after that they saw a mother fox, and 
three little ones were with her. This time it 
was the youngest Prince who would have shot, 
but the fox called to him, imploring him to 
spare her life and offering instead her three 
young ones to the Princes. 

She too was allowed to escape, and now each 
Prince had a young fox, a young lion and a 
young bear to follow him. 

26 


A LITHUANIAN STORY 


After that the Princes met a hare and a boar, 
and these animals were also allowed to go un- 
harmed because they each gave a young one 
to each one of the Princes to follow after and 
serve him. 

And now the Princes came to a place where 
the road divided. 

“I,” said the youngest, “shall take the road 
toward the East, where the sun rises each 
morning.” 

“And I,” said the second, “shall journey 
toward the West, where it is golden at sunset.” 

But the eldest Prince would take neither 
of these roads. “My way shall be neither 
toward the East nor toward the West,” said 
he, “but straight ahead, and when I come to 
a place to dwell in, there will I stop.” 

The three brothers then asked their stepsister 
which of them she would follow, and she said 
she would go with the eldest Prince, for she too 
wished nothing better than a place to dwell in, 
where she could live in peace and safety. 

So the three brothers parted, but first the 
eldest Prince cut three notches in a tree that 


27 


PRINCES AND THE ANIMALS 


stood at the parting of the ways. He cut one 
at the East, and one at the West, and one in 
the center between them, one for each of his 
brothers, and one for himself. 

He told them the notch to the East was 
for the youngest brother, the notch to the West 
was for the second brother, and the one in the 
center belonged to himself. 

‘‘When any one of us returns to this spot,” 
said he, “let him place his finger first upon one 
notch, and then upon the other. If milk 
flows forth from the notch, then all is well with 
the one to whom it belongs, but if blood flows 
forth, then it means death or misfortune to 
that one.” 

After that they bade each other farewell and 
set forth, each on his own way, and each with 
his animals following after him, and the step- 
sister went with the eldest brother, as she had 
chosen. 

For a long time the eldest Prince and his 
sister journeyed on without seeing any one, 
but toward evening they came to a house and 
there was a red light shining out from the win- 
28 


A LITHUANIAN STORY 


dow. When they looked inside they saw a 
band of robbers sitting there, counting the gold 
they had taken from the people they had killed. 

The stepsister was so frightened that her 
teeth chattered in her head, and she was for 
going farther, but the Prince said no. “ Hither 
we have come, and here we shall stop,” said 
he. 

Then he called his animals to him and threw 
open the door of the house. 

When the robbers saw him, they started up 
and seized their weapons to slay him, but they 
had no time, for the faithful animals flew at 
them and tore them almost to pieces, so that 
they were dead, all except one ; and he lay there 
with the others as though he had been killed 
also. 

Then the Prince threw them down into the 
cellar and locked the door, and he and his step- 
sister got out food and drink and feasted to 
their hearts’content, and the animals feasted also. 

The next morning the Prince went out hunt- 
ing and he told his stepsister she might go all 
over the house and look at everything in it; 

29 


PRINCES AND THE ANIMALS 


only into the cellar she must not look, for there 
the robbers were lying, and that door must 
remain fastened. 

After he had gone, the girl went about through 
the house and looked at everything. After 
she had seen all there was to be seen in the 
house, she began to think about the cellar, and 
more and more she wished to open the door 
and look at the robbers lying there. 

At last she could resist no longer. She un- 
fastened the door and looked down into the 
cellar. As soon as she did so, the robber who 
was only wounded lifted his head and spoke 
to her. 

The girl was terribly frightened, and was 
for shutting the door at once, but the robber 
called to her so piteously that she could but 
stay and listen to him. 

“Do not fear me,” cried the robber. “Even 
if I desired it, I am too weak to harm you, but 
I wish you only good.” 

The robber then told her that if she would 
do as he said, he would soon be well and strong 
again. Then they would rid themselves of her 
30 


A LITHUANIAN STORY 


brother and would be married, and the house 
and all the wealth that had been gathered would 
belong to their own two selves alone, and they 
would be very happy together. 

The girl listened ; and the longer she listened, 
the more the plan of the robber pleased her. 
She asked him what she must do to heal him. 

“You must go into the kitchen and look 
in the cupboard,” said the robber. “There 
you will find three flasks. Make haste and 
bring them here. In the first is an ointment. 
Rub it upon my wounds, and at once they will 
heal themselves. Hold the second flask to my 
lips, and all pain will leave me. Give me to 
drink from the third, and I will be perfectly 
well again and stronger than ever.” 

The girl did as the robber told her, and all 
happened as he had said. Then, after his 
wounds were healed and he was well again, 
he and the girl consulted as to how they could 
get rid of her brother. 

“This is how it can be managed,” said the 
robber. “You shall ask your brother how 
strong he is, and then, as a test of his strength 
3i 


PRINCES AND THE ANIMALS 


you shall say you will tie his thumbs behind 
him with a cord, and he shall try if he can 
break it. If he cannot break it, then he will 
be helpless, and you must call to me, and I 
will come and slay him.” 

This plan pleased the girl, and at once she 
agreed to it. 

That evening, when her brother came home, 
they sat at the table and ate and drank to- 
gether, but the animals were left outside in 
the courtyard with the door locked and barred 
against them. 

After supper, the stepsister began to talk to 
her brother and to question him as to how 
strong he was. 

“1 am so strong,” replied the Prince, “that 
there are few bonds that could hold me.” 

“ Suppose, I were to tie your thumbs together 
behind your back with a silken cord, could you 
break it ?” asked the sister. 

The Prince bade her try, and he put his hands 
behind him, and she tied his thumbs together 
with a silken cord the robber had given her. 
But no sooner did the Prince strain with his 


32 


A LITHUANIAN STORY 


thumbs against the cord than it snapped in two 
and dropped from him. 

“ Sister, you must bind me with something 
stouter than the cord if you would hold me,” 
said the brother. 

The next day the Prince went hunting again, 
and as soon as he had gone, the girl went down 
to the cellar to talk to the robber. “You must 
give me something stronger than that to bind 
him with,” said the stepsister. “He broke 
the cord as though it were no more than a 
spider’s web.” 

The robber gave her a cord twice as strong. 

“Now see if that will hold him,” said he. 

When the Prince came home that evening and 
he and the girl sat together at supper, she again 
began to talk of his strength. 

“Here is a cord that is twice as strong as the 
other. If I tied your thumbs together behind 
your back, could you break this also?” she 
asked of him. 

The brother told her to try. She tied his 
thumbs together as before with the second 
cord the robber had given her, but he snapped 
33 


PRINCES AND THE ANIMALS 

this also in two the moment he strained against 
it. 

“ Sister, you will need a stronger cord than 
that if you would hold me,” said he. 

The next day, as soon as the brother had 
left the house, the stepsister hastened down 
to talk again with the robber. 

“It is of no use,” said she. “He snaps the 
cords as easily as though there were nothing 
to them. To-night I will tie his thumbs to- 
gether with my girdle, and if he can break that, 
as he did the cords, then there is nothing that 
will hold him.” 

To this the robber agreed, so the next day, 
when the Prince came home, the girl asked 
him to let her once more tie his thumbs behind 
his back. “And this time,” said she, “I will 
tie them with my girdle.” 

The lad put his hands behind him and the 
girl tied the thumbs together with her girdle. 
And now, though the Prince strained against it 
with all his power, he could not break it. 

“Sister,” said he, laughing. “You will have 
to untie it, for now indeed I am held prisoner.” 

34 


A LITHUANIAN STORY 


“Then it is as I would have it,’’ cried the 
girl, and she threw open the cellar door and 
called to the robber to come forth and slay 
him. 

No sooner did the Prince see the robber than 
he knew the trick that had been played against 
him. 

“I am indeed helpless,” said he, “and if I 
must die, I must. But one little favor I would 
ask of you before I perish. Give me leave to 
blow three blasts upon my hunting-horn, and 
I will ask nothing else of you.” 

That seemed a harmless favor for the Prince 
to ask, and neither the robber nor the girl 
refused him. Still they would not untie the 
girdle. The stepsister held the horn to his 
mouth, and the Prince blew upon it so strong 
and loud that the girl and the robber were like 
to have been deafened by it. Three times he 
blew. The first blast woke the animals where 
they lay sleeping, and they raised their heads 
and listened. At the second blast they aroused 
themselves and gathered at the door of the house ; 
and at the third blast they threw themselves 
35 


PRINCES AND THE ANIMALS 


against the door so that locks and bars were 
broken, and the wood itself was splintered. Then 
in a moment they rushed into the room and 
sprang upon the robber and tore him into 
shreds. 

They would have torn the stepsister to 
pieces, too, but this the Prince would not per- 
mit. “I will not kill you,” said he to the girl, 
“but you shall be punished.” 

He then took a chain and fastened it around 
her waist and to a staple in the wall. He 
placed food and drink within reach and an 
empty bowl before her. “When you have 
filled this bowl full of tears of repentance, the 
chain will drop from you,” he said, “and you 
will be free ; but until that time you shall remain 
a prisoner.” 

He then went away and left her, and the 
animals followed at his heels. 

He went on and on until he came to another 
country, and there he stopped at an inn for food 
and rest. But there was little feasting at the 
inn, or resting either. Every one was weeping 
and lamenting. The food had burned on the 
36 


A LITHUANIAN STORY 


fire, and the malt had all run out of the barrels 
and was wasted. 

The Prince called to the landlord and asked 
him the cause of all this sorrow. 

“A sad and grievous cause, indeed,” replied 
the landlord. “This day the King’s daughter 
is to be sacrificed to a mighty dragon that is 
to come up out of the water. She must be 
left on the seashore over beyond the cliffs you see 
yonder, for him to devour her ; and unless this is 
done, the dragon will ravage the whole country.” 

“ But is there no one strong enough and brave 
enough to destroy this dragon?” asked the 
Prince. 

“There is no one. Many have come hither 
to try it, for the King has promised that if any 
one will do battle with the dragon and destroy 
him, he shall have the hand Of the Princess 
in marriage, and she is so beautiful, that any 
man might well risk death to'gain her. But 
every one who has seen the dragon as he lies 
out in the sea has been so filled with terror 
that he has fled away. Not one has stayed 
even to look upon him twice.” 

37 


PRINCES AND THE ANIMALS 


When the Prince heard this he made up his 
mind that he would at least have a look at 
the dragon, so he asked the landlord how he 
must go to reach the place where the monster 
lay. As soon as he had been told, off he set 
in that direction, and the animals were not far 
behind him. 

It did not take him long to reach the sea- 
shore and when he looked off across the water 
he could see the dragon lying there. He was 
so long that his back looked like an island, and 
from his nostrils rose up streams of smoke that 
were full of fiery cinders. 

The Prince hid himself behind a heap of 
rocks and lay there watching, and presently 
he heard a great noise. It was made by a pro- 
cession of people who were bringing the Princess 
down to the seashore. She was very beautiful, 
but so sad looking that the Prince’s heart melted 
within him for pity of her. 

They brought her to the seashore and left 
her there, and every one went away except 
two nobles of the Court. One of them was 
driving the coach that brought the Princess, 
38 


A LITHUANIAN STORY 


and the other one sat beside him as footman. 
They were to wait until all was over, and then 
they were to take the news back to the King, 
but they kept the coach high up on top of the 
cliff where they would be out of danger. 

The Prince waited until all the others had 
left her, and then he came out from behind 
the rocks and went to speak to the Princess ; 
but when she saw him she was frightened, for 
she did not know who he was nor whence he 
came. 

“Do not fear me,” the Prince said to her. 
“I mean you no harm, but instead I have come 
hither to do battle with the dragon, and if it 
may be, to save you.” 

When the Princess heard this, she begged 
and implored him to leave her. “ Why should 
you perish also ? None can ever do battle 
with yonder monster and come out alive.” 

But the Prince would not listen to her. 

And now the dragon bestirred itself and 
turned and came slowly toward the shore, and 
as it came they could smell the smoke of its 
breathing. 


39 


PRINCES AND THE ANIMALS 


The Prince drew his sword and stood waiting 
for it. Then as it came still nearer, the fox 
sprang out on a rock, dipped his tail in the 
salty water and slashed it across the eyes of 
the monster so that it was almost blinded. 
The lion and the bear also splashed up the 
water ; the boar ripped at the dragon with his 
sharp tusks ; the hare sprang upon its head 
and struck with its paws ; and the Prince drew 
his sword and plunged it into the monster’s 
heart, so that the life blood ran out from it 
into the sea, and it was dead. 

Then he went to the Princess, and they 
kissed each other on the lips, and she gave 
him the half of her handerchief and the half 
of her ring to show that they were true lovers. 
He also took the tongue and the ears of the 
dragon, and then they went back to the coach 
where it was waiting on the cliff, and the 
Princess bade the nobleman drive them to the 
palace of the King, that she and the Prince 
might be married as her father had promised. 

But on the way, the two noblemen talked 
together. 


40 


A LITHUANIAN STORY 


“Why should we drive this stranger to the 
palace ?” said they. “No one knows who he 
is or whence he comes. Let us slay him, and 
then we will draw lots as to which of us shall 
claim the Princess.” 

So that was what they did. They made 
the Prince step down from the coach and slew 
him, and they made the Princess swear that 
she would tell no one that it was not they who 
had killed the dragon. Then they drew lots 
as to which should marry her, and the lot fell 
to the coachman. 

But after they had driven on and left the 
Prince lying there, the faithful animals did not 
desert him. They stayed beside him and 
mourned over him, and the lion licked his face 
and hands, but it could not revive him. 

Then the fox, which was very clever, reminded 
the animals of the flasks of ointment and heal- 
ing water in the robbers' house. 

The hare, which was very swift, said it 
would go and fetch the flasks, and it sped away 
to get them. 

Now the stepsister had wept the bowl full 
4i 


PRINCES AND THE ANIMALS 


of tears of repentance and was free again ; 
and when the hare came to the door and told 
her what it wanted, she gladly gave it the flasks 
and hung them about its neck in a little wicker 
basket. 

Then the hare fled back again to where the 
animals were waiting beside the Prince. With 
its tusks the boar broke the flask that held 
the ointment, and the bear rubbed it on the 
Prince’s wounds so that they were healed. 
Then they poured some drops from the second 
bottle between his lips, and the color came 
back to his cheeks and the light to his eyes. 
When they gave him to drink from the third 
bottle, he became quite well again and stronger 
than ever. 

After that he rose and set out to follow the 
Princess. But the way was long, and before 
he reached the palace, night overtook him, 
and he had no place to sleep. He was about 
to make a bed among the grasses when he saw, 
not far in front of him, the light of a fire. He 
went on toward it, and as he came nearer, he 
saw an old, old woman standing beside it and 
42 



As fast as she 


touched them each one was turned into a 
stone figure. Page 43 



# 





















A LITHUANIAN STORY 


cooking her supper in a pot. She was so 
old that her chin and nose almost met, and 
so skinny she was scarcely more than bones, 
and the eyes under her brows were red and evil. 

“Good evening, mother,” said the Prince. 

“Good evening, son/’ replied the woman. 

“May I and my animals warm ourselves 
beside the fire ?” asked the Prince. 

“As for yourself, you’re welcome,” said the 
old woman; “but as for your animals, I am 
afraid of them. Just let me give each one of 
them a little blow with my staff to show them 
I’m mistress, and then they may rest by the 
fire also.” 

The Prince did not say no, so the old woman 
took up her staff and with it she quickly 
touched one animal after the other, begin- 
ning with the lion and ending with the hare, 
and as soon as she touched them, each one 
was turned into a stone figure, for the old 
woman was a witch and as wicked as she was 
ugly. Then she touched the Prince with her 
staff, and he also became a stone image without 
life or motion. 


43 


PRINCES AND THE ANIMALS 


Then the old hag laughed with glee and 
counted them over. They were not the only 
ones she had either. All about were other 
stones that had once been living beings. 

Now some time after this, the second Prince, 
who had traveled far and was weary of journey- 
ing, came back to the branching road where 
the tree stood with its notches, and he wished 
to see how his brothers were faring. 

He touched the notch that belonged to the 
youngest Prince, and milk flowed out from it. 
So he knew all was well with his youngest 
brother. Then he touched the notch that 
belonged to the eldest Prince, and forth from 
that flowed blood. Then he was grieved to 
the heart because he knew death or disaster 
must have come upon his brother. 

“Now will I set forth in search of him,” 
said he, “and never will I stop nor stay until 
I find what has become of him and whether 
I can give him succor/’ 

So the second Prince journeyed on and on, 
along the road his eldest brother had gone be- 
fore him, and it was not long until he came 
44 


A LITHUANIAN STORY 


to the place where the old woman was tending 
her fire. All about in the shadows stood figures 
of stone, some big and some little, but the 
Prince did not think to look at them. 

He asked if he and his animals might rest 
a bit beside the fire and warm themselves. 

“You yourself are welcome,” said the old 
woman, “but I fear that your animals, may 
tear at me or eat me.” She then asked the 
Prince’s permission to touch each animal with 
her rod, that it might know her as its mistress. 
“Then I will no longer fear them,” said she. 

The Prince was willing, so she took the rod 
that leaned against a tree near by and struck 
the animals lightly, first one and then another, 
and as she touched them, they were turned 
to stone. Last of all she touched the Prince, 
and he too became a stone image. 

Then the old hag laughed aloud for joy of 
her wickedness, and put aside her rod once 
more, and went on with her cooking. 

Now it happened that not so very long after 
this the youngest Prince, who had jour- 
neyed far and wide in his wanderings, began 
45 


PRINCES AND THE ANIMALS 


to think of his two brothers and to wonder 
how it had gone with them in the world. 

So he came back to the place where the three 
roads parted, and the tree stood with the three 
notches in it. 

He put his finger on the notch that was his 
eldest brother’s, and blood ran down from it ; 
and his heart was heavy within him, for he knew 
that harm must have come to his brother. Then 
he put his finger upon the notch of the second 
brother, and from that, too, trickled down the 
blood. Then the young Prince cried aloud in 
his sorrow. “ Never will I rest or stay,” cried 
he, “until I know what has happened to my 
brothers and whether or no I can do aught to aid 
them.” 

So he set out the way the second brother had 
gone, and before long he, too, came to where 
the old woman was tending her fire. 

The old hag laughed in her heart, when she 
saw him, for she thought, “here will be more 
stone images to be set round me.” She spoke 
to the Prince and made him welcome, and bade 
him sit beside the fire to rest himself. But 
46 


A LITHUANIAN STORY 


she said she feared his animals, and she took 
her staff in her hand and asked the Prince’s 
leave to touch them each one with it. “Then,” 
said she, “they will know me as their mistress 
and will not touch or harm me.” 

But the Prince replied, “Not so ! No one but 
I must strike my faithful servants, no matter 
how lightly. Give me the rod, and then if 
needs be I will touch them.” 

So he took the rod from the old woman, 
though she indeed was loth to yield it, and 
first he touched the fox with it, for it was 
growling. 

As soon as he did this, the fox was turned 
to stone, and then the Prince knew that here 
was evil magic. He looked about him and 
saw the stone images of his brothers and their 
animals, and many other stones as well, that 
had once been living, breathing people. 

Then the Prince’s heart was hot within him 
and he demanded of the hag that she should 
bring these people back to life, living and 
breathing as they had been before, and he 
threatened that unless she did this, his animals 
47 


PRINCES AND THE ANIMALS 


should tear her limb from limb and scatter 
the pieces of her through the forest. 

The old woman was terrified, and she bade 
the Prince turn the staff that he held end for 
end and touch the people with it ; then they 
would return to life. 

This the Prince did, and at once, as she had 
promised, the cold dead stones became living 
flesh once more, all the people and all the 
animals. 

Then they all rejoiced greatly, and they 
gathered about the Prince and thanked him, 
but none rejoiced more greatly than the 
brothers. 

Then the others all went away to their own 
homes, and the youngest Prince broke the rod 
to pieces that the witch might no more use 
it for harm to others. 

The three brothers talked together, and the 
eldest told them all about the Princess, and 
how he had saved her from the dragon. And 
he told them, too, how the noblemen had slain 
him and stolen the Princess from him, and how 
the faithful animals had brought him back to life. 

48 


A LITHUANIAN STORY 


After he had made an end of the story the 
youngest Prince said, “Now we must set out 
for the palace of the King at once, for it may 
be it is not yet too late for you to claim the 
Princess.” So the three brothers set forth, with 
all the animals following behind them. 

When they reached the palace, none dared 
to hinder them from entering, because of the 
animals, and the three went on through one 
room after another till they came to where the 
King was, and his daughter and the nobleman 
were with him. 

The nobleman was very merry, for the wed- 
ding feast was even then preparing, and that 
night he was to be married to the lovely Prin- 
cess. The King, too, was happy, for he was 
pleased at the thought of having such a brave 
hero for a son-in-law. Only the Princess was 
sad and would do nothing but weep and be- 
moan herself, but she could not tell her father 
the cause of her grief because of the oath she 
had sworn to the nobleman. 

Now when the Prince and his two brothers 
entered the room where the King was sitting, 
49 


PRINCES AND THE ANIMALS 


the Princess gave a shriek of joy, but the 
nobleman turned pale and trembled, for he 
knew the Prince at once as the true hero who 
had saved the Princess from the dragon, and 
whom he and his companion had slain by the 
roadside. 

Then the Prince began and told the King the 
whole story, and as the King listened, he 
wondered. When the Prince had made an end 
of the tale, the King turned to the nobleman. 
“And what answer have you to make to all 
this ?” he asked him. 

“That it is false and doubly false,” cried the 
nobleman. “ ’Tis I and I alone who saved 
the Princess.” 

Then the Prince asked him what proof he 
had of the truth of his story, and when the 
nobleman could give no proof, the lad drew 
out a handkerchief and opened it, and there 
were the ears and the tongue of the dragon. 
He also showed the half of the handkerchief 
and the half of the ring the Princess had given 
him, and then it was clear to every one that it 
was he and he alone who had slain the dragon. 

So 


A LITHUANIAN STORY 


Then the nobleman was punished as he de- 
served, but the Prince was married to the Prin- 
cess, and his two brothers were married to the 
King’s two younger daughters, and they all 
lived together in great joy and happiness 
forever. 


51 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 
A French Story 

There was once a King who was so rich that 
it would have been impossible for him to spend 
all his money, and yet his greatest wish was 
still to keep adding to his treasure. 

The King’s wife had died and left him but 
one child, a daughter named Graciosa. This 
Princess was so beautiful, so kind and so gentle 
that she was beloved by all about her. The 
King also loved her dearly, — more dearly 
indeed than anything in the world except his 
treasure, but that was always first in his 
thoughts and his affections. 

One day the King set out with his attendants 
to hunt in a forest near by. 

The huntsmen soon started a deer that 
bounded away through the forest. The King 
followed it for a long distance, farther than he 
had ever gone before. Suddenly he came out 
on the other side of the forest, and there, in 


A FRENCH STORY 


front of him, stood a vast castle with towers 
and turrets, and a moat around it. 

The King called his chief huntsman to him 
and asked him whether he knew who lived in 
the castle. 

The man replied that it belonged to the Duch- 
ess Grognon, and she was said to be so rich that 
she had never been able to count all her treasures. 

As soon as the King heard this, he at once 
determined to stop at the castle and ask for re- 
freshment. He was not only weary and thirsty 
from the chase, but he also had a great desire to 
see any one as rich as the Duchess, and perhaps 
he would be shown her treasures as well. 

Grognon had already seen him from her win- 
dow, and as soon as he turned toward the castle, 
she hastened down to meet him. She herself 
opened the door for him and smiling she bade 
him welcome. 

When the King first looked at her he was 
amazed. Never had he seen any one so ugly. 
She was as dark and rough and broad as a toad. 
Her eyes were little and red, and her mouth was 
like a slit that stretched from ear to ear. But 
S3 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


she was magnificently dressed and so covered 
with jewels that the King was dazzled by them 
and quite forgot how hideous was the one who 
wore them. 

The Duchess invited the King to enter and at 
once commanded that a repast should be brought 
him with all sorts of cakes and sweets and 
fruits, and also a pipe of wine. 

The King, who was very thirsty, was pleased 
to hear this order, and when the pipe of wine was 
brought in he waited impatiently for it to be 
opened. But when the Duchess struck the head 
of the pipe, instead of wine a great heap of gold 
fell out upon the floor. 

The Duchess pretended to be very much sur- 
prised. “This is a strange thing,” said she. 
“ I cannot imagine how they came to bring this 
gold instead of the wine I ordered. I pray your 
Majesty’s pardon for the mistake, which shall 
be well punished, I promise you.” 

She then commanded that another pipe should 
be brought in, but when she struck this, out 
poured a heap of rubies. 

The King was filled with wonder and admi- 

54 


A FRENCH STORY 


ration at the sight of all this treasure, but the 
Duchess pretended to be still more angry. 

“The servant who made this mistake shall be 
well beaten, I promise you/’ she cried. “Bring 
in another pipe, and this time be sure it is filled 
with good wine instead of all these stones.” 

But she had no more success with the third 
pipe than with the second, for when she struck 
it, out poured emeralds. The Duchess pre- 
tended to fly into a fury and scornfully pushed 
the jewels aside with her foot. Pipe after pipe 
was brought, but one was full of sapphires, one 
of pearls, and still another of diamonds. The 
whole floor was covered with her treasures. 

The King was bewildered. He scarcely knew 
how to express his wonder. 

“Sire,” said the Duchess, smiling, “since you 
feel such an admiration for these poor trifles, 
perhaps you would like to see the treas- 
ure chambers from which these have been 
brought.” 

Nothing could please the King better, and 
after Grognon had shown him all her treasures, 
which indeed seemed endless, he determined, if 
55 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


possible, to make her his wife that all this wealth 
might become his. 

This plan suited the Duchess perfectly. In- 
deed it was for this purpose that she had shown 
her wealth to the King, and it was agreed be- 
tween them that they should be married as soon 
as possible. 

When the news of this intended marriage was 
brought to Graciosa, she was filled with grief and 
dismay. She had already heard of the Duchess 
Grognon and knew her to be not only a monster 
of ugliness, but of such an evil nature that noth- 
ing delighted her more than to tease and torment 
those around her and make their lives a misery 
to them. Nor could she understand how her 
father could make up his mind to take such a 
creature as his wife. 

However, she hid her feelings as well as she 
could and determined to be obedient and pa- 
tient with Grognon, hoping that in this Way she 
might live with her at peace, and even perhaps 
win from her a little affection. 

The day for the wedding drew near, and one 
morning word was brought to the King that 
56 


A FRENCH STORY 

Grognon would that day set forth on her way to 
his palace. 

Wishing to do all honor to his bride, the King 
determined to ride forth and meet her, and he 
gave orders that Graciosa should make herself 
ready and ride with him to meet the Duchess. 

Poor Graciosa had withdrawn to the palace 
gardens to weep in secret, for she did not wish 
others to know of the grief she felt over her 
father’s marriage. As she sat beside a fountain, 
her tears falling as clear and bright as the leaping 
waters, she saw a page coming toward her across 
the garden. He was a stranger to the Princess, 
and he was so tall and handsome, and his air so 
noble that Graciosa gazed at him with wonder. 

When he reached the place where Graciosa was 
sitting he bent his knee before her. “ Princess,” 
said he, “the King is waiting for you. He rides 
forth to-day to meet the Duchess Grognon, who 
has already set out from her castle, and he wishes 
you to ride with him.” 

“Tell him I will come upon the moment,” 
said Graciosa. “But stay! First tell me who 
you are, for your face is strange to me. Are you 
57 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


one of the Duchess’s pages who has been sent on 
before her ?” 

“No, Princess,” replied the page. “I am 
indeed a stranger here, but no one has sent me 
hither. I have come hither because my greatest 
desire in life is to serve you, and, if it may be, 
to ease your sorrows in small measure by my 
love and devotion.” 

“ How ! ” cried the Princess. “ Do you, a page, 
dare to speak to me of love and devotion ? You 
should be well punished for your insolence, and 
no doubt you will be when I report the matter to 
the King, as rest assured I shall do as soon as I 
find an opportunity.” 

“In truth, you have no cause for anger, Prin- 
cess,” replied the stranger. “I am not a page, 
but Prince Percinet, the son of a King as rich 
and powerful as your own father. Long ago 
my father died, and I live in the palace of my 
mother, the Fairy Finetta. Through her I am 
possessed of many magic powers and can render 
myself invisible at will. It is only because of 
my desire to help you that I have come here 
dressed as a page.” 

58 


A FRENCH STORY 


Graciosa was filled with wonder at this story. 
She had often heard of the fairy Prince Percinet, 
of his beauty and wit and power, but little had 
she thought to meet him. She could scarcely 
believe it possible that he loved her, and that it 
was for her sake he had come to the palace to 
serve as a page. 

Still full of wonder, she arose and hastened 
away to where her father was waiting im- 
patiently for her coming. He and his attendants 
were ready to set out at once, and a page was 
holding Graciosa’s palfrey. 

She was about to mount when Percinet ap- 
peared, leading a snow-white horse so graceful 
and so beautiful that every one who saw it mar- 
veled. This horse, he said, had just come as a 
gift to the Princess Graciosa from one who 
refused to let his name be known. 

It was not difficult for Graciosa to guess that 
the one who had given her the horse was Prince 
Percinet himself, but her father could not wonder 
enough over both the gift and the giver. 

When the Princess had mounted the horse and 
gathered up the reins, it at once moved forward 
59 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


with such grace and lightness that all were filled 
with admiration. The King, at whose side she 
rode, kept admiring the steed and wondering as 
to whence it had come. 

They had not traveled far when they saw 
Grognon and her train approaching them. The 
Duchess rode in a golden coach, drawn by six 
spotted horses, their harness glittering with gold 
and jewels. Grognon herself was magnificently 
dressed and covered with gems that fairly daz- 
zled the eyes with their glitter, but this magnifi- 
cence only made her look more hideous, like a 
toad peering out from a jeweled glove. 

No sooner did the King come to the side of the 
chariot than he began to pay his compliments to 
Grognon, but the Duchess scarcely listened to 
him. Her eyes were fixed upon the horse upon 
which the Princess Graciosa was riding. 

“That is a very beautiful horse,” said she. 
“Indeed it is finer than any in my stables, or, 
I am sure, in yours, either. I should have 
thought it would have been kept for me instead 
of your allowing your daughter to ride upon such 
a wonder.” 


60 


A FRENCH STORY 


The King, seeing she was in a rage, tried to 
make excuses, but Grognon would not listen to 
him. Nothing would satisfy her but that 
Graciosa should light down from the horse and 
allow her to mount upon it instead, and ride 
beside the King as they returned to the palace. 

To this Graciosa eagerly agreed. The fury 
shown by the Duchess terrified her, and her 
only wish was to turn aside Grognon’s anger and 
perhaps win from her a kindly word. 

But no sooner had Grognon mounted the horse 
than it began to prance and curvetteand leap from 
side to side so roughly that the Duchess thought 
her teeth would be loosened in her head ; then 
suddenly it started off at full gallop, with Grog- 
non screaming and clutching it by the mane. 
So swiftly sped the horse that no one could over- 
take it, and when it reached the palace it stopped 
with such suddenness that the Duchess was 
thrown violently off upon the stones of the 
courtyard. 

When the King and Graciosa, followed by the 
courtiers and attendants, arrived at the palace, 
they were horrified to find Grognon lying on the 
61 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


stones of the courtyard, screaming and groaning. 

She was lifted up and carried into the castle, 
and physicians were called to attend to her 
bruises and scratches. 

“It is all the fault of that miserable girl,” 
Grognon screamed again and again. “It is 
some trick she arranged for me, and she had no 
other hope than that I should be killed outright. 
But she shall be punished for her wickedness. 
She shall find that she cannot treat me in such a 
manner without suffering for it.” 

She then demanded that the King should send 
Graciosa to her and allow her to punish the 
Princess as she saw fit. 

The King was loth to agree to this, and yet he 
dared not refuse, for he feared that Grognon 
might fall into such a fury that she would refuse 
to marry him and would return to her own castle, 
and so he would lose her treasures. He felt him- 
self obliged to allow Grognon to carry out her 
wishes. 

Graciosa was sent to the Duchess’s chamber 
and went with fear and trembling. 

No sooner had she entered than the door was 
62 


A FRENCH STORY 


locked behind her. She saw, with terror, that 
back of Grognon’s couch stood four tall and 
terrible-looking attendants, each armed with a 
heavy staff. 

“Now, my beauty,” cried Grognon furiously, 
“it is my turn. No doubt you were vastly 
amused by my misadventure, but now you your- 
self shall know how it feels to be covered with 
wounds and bruises.” 

She then bade her attendants seize Graciosa 
and beat her as long as their strength held out, or 
until their staves were broken. 

Graciosa would have begged for mercy, but 
suddenly a whisper sounded in her ear. “ Fear 
not, Graciosa. I, Percinet, am beside thee. 
The blows shall not harm thee, but when they 
fall, cry out as though they were beyond all 
bearing.” 

Graciosa at once recognized the voice of Per- 
cinet, and knowing he was there, all fear left her, 
and she could have laughed aloud for joy. How- 
ever, she pretended to be almost fainting from 
terror. 

Grognon now ordered the attendants to begin ; 

63 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


they at once seized Graciosa and raised their 
staves, but she now saw that by Percinet’s magic 
the staves had been changed into rose-colored 
plumes, so soft and feathery that the blows she 
received from them were like the tenderest of 
caresses. But, remembering Percinet’s bidding, 
she cried aloud under the strokes as though she 
could scarcely bear the suffering. 

The eyes of Grognon and her attendants were 
blinded so that they did not see the rods had been 
changed to plumes. The Duchess wondered at 
the strength of the Princess. She had expected 
to see her sink down, bruised and senseless under 
the rain of blows, but the harder the attendants 
beat her, the less did Graciosa feel the strokes. 

At last the men, outwearied, dropped their 
rods, and Graciosa, pretending to weep, gathered 
her garments about her as though to hide her 
bruises. 

“Go,” said Grognon harshly, pointing to the 
door. “You have received no more than you 
deserve, but this beating is nothing to what you 
shall receive, if you again try your tricks upon 


64 


A FRENCH STORY 


Graciosa crept away to her room and to her 
bed, pretending to be ill, which delighted Grog- 
non and was as a soothing salve to her bruises. 

Soon after the King and Grognon were mar- 
ried with great magnificence. The new Queen 
was dres ed in cloth of gold and wore her most 
magnificent jewels ; she received with satisfaction 
the compliments of the courtiers who pretended 
to admire her and praised her beauty and grace, 
while they laughed at her behind her back and 
wondered how the King had ever brought himself 
to marry such a hideous creature. 

Graciosa was obliged to wear a hideous dress, 
and her ornaments were only common pebbles 
gathered from beside the road, with holes bored 
through them and strung together, but in spite 
of this her beauty shone out as the moon shines 
through the clouds at night time. 

Soon after, a grand tournament was given in 
honor of the Queen. The knight who was chosen 
to ride for Grognon declared her to be the most 
beautiful creature in the world, and challenged 
all others to prove the contrary against him. 

Many knights rode against him, but he over- 

65 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


came them all, for, knowing him to be the fa- 
vorite of the Queen, none of them dared to try to 
overthrow him. 

The heralds were about to proclaim him victor 
when a new and unknown knight rode into the 
field. 

This knight rode a snow-white horse and was 
clad in silver armor. The only color he wore 
was a green silken scarf, that being Graciosa’s 
color. 

This silver knight declared Graciosa to be the 
most beautiful and perfect creature in the world, 
even as he held Queen Grognon to be the most 
hideous and detestable, and this he would prove 
against any who dared to ride against him. 

When the Queen heard what the knight said, 
her face grew as red as blood, and she gave such 
a cry of fury that the King trembled, and Gra- 
ciosa almost fainted with terror. However, the 
Queen had no doubt but that her chosen knight 
would overthrow the newcomer, as he had all 
others. 

The two knights reined back their horses and 
set their lances at rest, and then at the given sig- 
66 


A FRENCH STORY 


nal they charged at each other. But it seemed 
the silver knight scarce needed to touch the other 
before he sent him rolling in the dust, and so sore 
wounded that it was difficult to revive him. 

At once the silver knight disappeared, and no 
one was able to guess who he was or whence he 
had come, nor could they tell whither he had 
gone. Graciosa alone guessed, even when he 
first appeared, that the silver knight was no 
other than her fairy lover Percinet. 

Grognon was in such a rage that she was like 
to lose her senses. She declared that Graciosa 
had arranged the whole plan so as to disgrace her 
before the court and demanded that the Princess 
should be left to her to punish as she pleased. 

The King was afraid to refuse, for Grognon 
threatened that if he did she would take all her 
treasure and depart at once, and not one single 
jewel of it should he ever see again. With an 
anxious heart he at last agreed to her wishes, and 
Grognon, filled with triumph, determined to rid 
herself once and for all of the Princess. 

That night, soon after the Princess had gone 
to her chamber, a number of armed men entered 
67 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


it and forced her to come away with them. They 
brought her to a closed carriage which was in wait- 
ing, and into this she was obliged to enter. After 
that she was driven on and on for a long distance. 

At last the coach stopped, the door was opened, 
and Graciosa was forced to descend. She found 
the men had brought her into the midst of a deep 
and gloomy forest, and that here they meant to 
leave her. 

Graciosa was filled with terror. She knew the 
forest to be full of lions, bears, and other savage 
creatures, and she could not forbear from weep- 
ing and complaining of the cruelty that could 
leave her there to be torn to pieces by the fangs 
of wild beasts. She even pleaded with the men 
to kill her at once, that her sufferings might the 
sooner be ended. 

The attendants, however, paid little heed to 
her prayers and tears except to tell her they were 
acting under the Queen’s command, and soon 
the poor child found herself alone and helpless. 
Kneeling down, she said her prayers, and then 
meekly laid herself down to await whatever fate 
might befall her. 


68 


A FRENCH STORY 


Suddenly the forest all around her was lighted 
up as though by the glow of thousands upon 
thousands of candles, and she saw before her a 
broad avenue, paved with stones of changing 
colors and leading up to a shining palace. 

Graciosa gazed with wonder upon the sight, 
scarcely able to believe her eyes. “ It must be 
the work of Prince Percinet,” she murmured. 
“He is guarding me from the savage beasts, even 
as he guarded me before from the fury of the cruel 
Grognon.” 

A sound from behind startled her, and she 
turned with a cry, fearing one of the beasts might 
have stolen up to her unheard. 

Instead there stood Prince Percinet himself, 
looking upon her with tenderness and admira- 
tion. Graciosa had never seen him appear so 
handsome. He was dressed in white satin, richly 
embroidered with silver, and around his neck 
hung a broad collar of emeralds. 

“ Do not be afraid, beautiful Graciosa,” said he. 
“I have come to lead you to the palace of my 
mother, the Fairy Finetta. She is waiting im- 
patiently to welcome you, and be sure that in her 
69 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


palace you will be treated with only the greatest 
care and tenderness/’ 

At these words all fear left Graciosa. Blush- 
ing, she allowed Percinet to take her hand and to 
lead her up the avenue to the palace. 

No sooner did they arrive at the foot of the 
steps than the golden doors swung open, and a 
tall and beautiful lady dressed in a shimmering 
green robe bordered with emeralds appeared, and 
after making herself known as the Fairy Finetta, 
she welcomed Graciosa with the greatest grace 
and dignity. 

Graciosa was led into the palace, and every- 
thing she saw about her was so beautiful and 
wonderful that she hardly knew how to express 
her admiration. Wherever they went they were 
accompanied by soft music ; doors opened before 
them as they approached, and in one apartment 
a feast was set forth for them with every sort of 
delicious food that can be imagined. It was 
served to them without hands, and nowhere did 
Graciosa see any one but themselves. This gave 
the Princess some anxiety. 

“ After all,” thought she to herself, “all this is 
70 


A FRENCH STORY 


magic and may at any moment vanish suddenly, 
even as it appeared, and I may find myself again 
in the forest, helpless and alone.” She there- 
fore, as soon as she found an opportunity, asked 
the Fairy Finetta whether it would not be pos- 
sible to send her back to her father’s palace 
again. 

The fairy seemed both surprised and displeased 
at this question. “ Nothing would be easier,” 
she replied, “but have you so soon wearied of our 
company that you should wish to leave us ? You 
know how Percinet adores you. He will be mis- 
erable if he finds he is unable to make you happy 
even for a few short hours.” 

Graciosa murmured something about her 
father. 

“Your father is well and in good spirits,” 
replied the fairy ; “he has not even missed you.” 

The Princess could now no longer urge to be 
sent home. She agreed to remain in the castle 
for a while, at least. Percinet showed the greatest 
joy when he heard this. “Ah, Graciosa,” said 
he, “you cannot but know that I am miserable 
without you, and if you would accept my love 
7i 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


and devotion, I would be the happiest creature 
in the world.” 

The Princess blushed, but made no answer and 
Percinet dared not press her further. 

The next few days passed like a dream for 
Graciosa. Every day she found herself provided 
with clothes and jewels more beautiful than any 
she had ever imagined. Every day invisible 
hands served her with food that was strange to 
her, yet very delicious. Often she walked in the 
gardens or amused herself by feeding the fish in 
the fountains. Percinet was almost constantly 
with her and found a thousand ways in which to 
please her and show his devotion, and the Fairy 
Finetta was always gracious and charming. But 
one day, when Percinet had left her for a short 
time, Graciosa began to think of her father, and 
she was seized with such a great desire to see him 
that she grew very sad, and could not forbear 
from weeping. 

When Percinet returned and saw her tears, he 
at once asked her, with the greatest concern, 
what was troubling her. 

“I am sad because I am thinking of my 
72 


A FRENCH STORY 


father,” replied Graciosa. “Oh, Percinet ! Is 
it not possible for me to see him ? I have been 
parted from him for so long.” 

Percinet became very thoughtful, but pres- 
ently he said, “It is indeed quite possible for you 
to see him and that without even leaving the 
palace, but I fear harm may come of it. How- 
ever, as you know, I can refuse you nothing, so 
come with me.” 

Percinet then led Graciosa to a high tower from 
which they could see a great stretch of country 
in every direction. He bade her place her right 
foot on his left foot, and her little finger on his 
thumb, and look in the direction he pointed out 
to her. 

As soon as Graciosa had done this, she no 
longer saw Percinet or the tower, or anything 
around her. It seemed to her that she was back 
again in her father’s palace, in the chamber 
where the King sometimes went to be alone. 
She saw him there and in his hand he held a 
little picture of herself painted when she was 
a child and he was weeping and grieving over it 
so bitterly that Graciosa’s heart was wrung 
73 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


with pity for him. She wished to speak to him 
and throw her arms about his neck, but no 
sooner did she step forward toward him than 
she found herself back again on the tower with 
Percinet, and the vision of her father was gone. 

Graciosa turned to the Prince, her face bathed 
with tears. “ Dearest Percinet, if you love me, 
let me return to my father,” she cried. “He is 
grieving for me, and I cannot bear the thought 
of his sorrow.” 

Percinet looked at her reproachfully. “And 
is my sorrow nothing to you?” he asked her. 
“ You know how it would grieve me to the heart 
to lose you. The King was willing to leave you 
to the cruelty of Grognon, and I have treated 
you always with the tenderest respect, and yet 
you would gladly leave me to return to him.” 

Graciosa could make no answer to this, and 
after a moment Percinet added with a sigh, “ So 
be it.” 

He then led her to the fairy and told her of 
Graciosa’s wish to leave them. 

Finetta looked at her with a severe expression. 
“I fear Graciosa, that you are very ungrateful,” 
74 


A FRENCH STORY 


said she. “But if you wish to leave us, we will 
not keep you. Only, when you find yourself 
again in the power of the Queen, remember that 
it is of your own choice you are there.” 

So saying, the fairy waved her hand, and 
at once the castle and all in it vanished away 
like mist. Graciosa found herself again in her 
father’s palace. With eager steps she hastened 
to the chamber where she had seen him sitting. 
He was still there, and weeping. She ran to him 
and threw her arms about him. 

“Dearest father, do not grieve any longer,” 
she cried. “Your Graciosa has returned to you, 
loving you better than ever.” 

The King was filled with joy at the sight of his 
daughter and embraced her and caressed her 
with so much tenderness that Graciosa hoped 
her sorrows were now ended, and that nothing 
but happiness lay before her. 

But she had forgotten Grognon. The step- 
mother was furious when she heard that the 
Princess had returned to the castle. “ Will I 
never be able to rid myself of this wretched 
girl !” she cried. “But wait a bit ! I will make 
75 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


her so miserable that she will be glad enough 
to leave the palace herself, of her own will and 
desire/’ 

She then hastened away to the King, who 
was again alone, as Graciosa had gone to her 
chamber. 

“I hear that Graciosa has returned!” cried 
Grognon. “The girl thinks she can come and go 
at pleasure and cares nothing for any anxiety or 
sorrow she may cause us. But leave her to me, 
and I will teach her a lesson in obedience that 
may save us much trouble in the future.” 

The King was troubled at hearing this. He 
could not bear the thought of again putting the 
Princess in the power of her stepmother, and 
yet he knew Grognon’s furious temper and was 
afraid of awakening it. In the end, however, 
he agreed to what the Queen asked and promised 
that she should do as she wished with Graciosa. 

Grognon had learned a lesson from the return 
of the Princess, and she now determined to call 
to her aid a fairy who was a friend of hers 
and was as wicked as herself. “This girl,” 
thought she, “ is surely protected by some 
76 


A FRENCH STORY 


magic, and if I would succeed against her, I 
must call upon some power that is greater than 
my own.” 

The fairy came in haste at the Queen’s sum- 
mons, and when she found what was required of 
her, her little eyes sparkled with malice. 

“This is indeed a matter to my own taste,” 
said she. “I will tell you how to set a task for 
the Princess that she cannot possibly accom- 
plish. Then, when she fails, you can say she is 
disobedient and obstinate, and this will give you 
an excuse for breaking every bone in her body.” 

The advice delighted Grognon. “Quick!” 
said she. “Tell me what I am to do, for I can 
hardly wait to rid myself of this creature.” 

The fairy then drew from an enormous pocket 
in her gown a great mass of tangled threads of 
silk. They were of all colors of the rainbow, and 
each thread was so twisted in with the others 
that there seemed neither beginning nor end to 
it and yet was so fine that one could scarcely 
breathe upon it without breaking it. 

“Take this silk to Graciosa,” said the fairy, 
“and tell her that before to-morrow she must 
77 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


separate the different colors from each other and 
wind them into skeins, each color to itself, and 
that not a single thread of them must be broken. 
This she will find it impossible to do, and when 
you visit her to-morrow and find that she has 
failed, it will give you an excuse to punish her as 
you see fit. ,, 

This advice delighted the Queen. She took 
the skeins and hastened away to the place where 
she had had Graciosa imprisoned. The Princess 
was weeping and looked so beautiful in her tears 
that any heart less hard than Grognon’s would 
have pitied her. But her beauty only increased 
the Queen’s fury against her. 

“Come, lazybones !” cried the Queen. “ Here 
is something to give work to your idle fingers. 
Take these silks and separate them from each 
other, winding each color into a skein by itself. 
See that not a thread of it is broken, and do you 
have the task done before to-morrow, or else 
you shall suffer for it.” 

“Alas, Madam!” cried the poor Princess. 
“ You know that this is an impossible thing to 
do.” 


78 


A FRENCH STORY 


“That is your concern,” cried Grognon 
harshly. “ But this I will tell you ; if you are too 
lazy and obstinate to do as I bid you, it is only 
right and proper that you should be punished.” 

So saying, she gave Graciosa a push so violent 
that it almost threw her upon the floor and went 
on out, locking the door behind her. 

Left alone, Graciosa took up the mass of silk 
and with careful fingers began to try to separate 
the strands, but hardly could she touch them 
before they broke, and she soon found the task 
was indeed impossible. 

In despair she threw aside the silks and burst 
into tears. 

“Alas ! Alas ! My sorrows are well deserved,” 
wept the poor Princess. “Had I but listened 
to Percinet and to the fairy’s warnings, I might 
even now be safe and happy in her palace with 
Percinet for my companion.” 

Hardly had she spoken thus when the Prince 
himself stood before her. 

“Ah, Graciosa,” said he, “are you perhaps 
beginning to learn at last the worth of my affec- 
tion ? You have indeed brought this sorrow on 
79 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


yourself, but I love you too dearly to be willing 
to see you suffer.” 

He then struck the silk three times with a 
silver wand he carried. Immediately the tangles 
and knots were smoothed away, the different 
colors separated themselves one from another, 
and broken ends rejoined. In less time than it 
takes to tell, the task was done, and the different 
silks lay smoothly wound and side by side upon 
the table. 

Graciosa hardly knew how to thank Percinet. 

“Do not thank me,” said the Prince gravely. 
‘‘I wish no thanks from you. You know how 
dearly I love you, and I, on my part, am sure 
that now you also love me. Come away with 
me from all these fears and sufferings and live 
with me in the palace my mother is eager to 
provide for us.” 

But Graciosa could not yet make up her mind 
to marry one who was half a fairy. 

“Ah, Percinet, forgive me!” she cried. “I 
know that you love me, but you are a fairy and 
I am a mortal, and I fear your love for me may 
not be lasting. Let us wait and see whether the 
80 


A FRENCH STORY 


Queen’s heart may not soften toward me. Per- 
haps she has only set me this task as a trial of my 
patience and does not really intend evil to me.” 

“In other words, you trust to her cruelty 
rather than to my tenderness,” cried the Prince 
with some anger. “So be it. But at least I 
have saved you from a beating.” 

Thus saying, he disappeared, and the Princess 
was left alone. 

Early the next morning Grognon hastened 
to Graciosa’s prison. Already she was planning 
what was the most cruel punishment she could 
give the Princess, for she had no other thought 
but that Graciosa would have found the task 
impossible. 

What was her amazement to see, when she 
opened the door, that all the silks had been sep- 
arated and wound into skeins, and that they lay 
upon the table so beautifully arranged that to 
see them was like looking upon a rainbow. 

Graciosa met her with a smile. “ Madam, I 
have done your bidding,” said she, “and the 
silks are ready for you, as you can see.” 

Grognon could think of no reply to make. 

81 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


She snatched up the silks and left the room, 
casting upon Graciosa a look so furious and so 
malignant that the poor girl trembled. 

No sooner had Grognon reached her own 
chamber than she sent for the wicked fairy and 
at once began to reproach her for setting such an 
easy task for the Princess. 

The fairy frowned and shook her head. “I 
do not understand it,” she said. “Some magic 
power must be helping Graciosa, for never could 
mortal fingers have separated the skeins after 
I had tangled them. However, I will set her 
another task even harder than the first, and which 
I am very sure will put her in your power.” 

The fairy then caused a great tub to appear, 
and it was full of the feathers of hundreds and 
hundreds of different birds. 

“Give her these feathers to separate,” said the 
fairy. “Tell her that the feathers of each kind 
of bird must be put by themselves, and all must 
be separated by the earliest break of day to- 
morrow. She will certainly find it impossible to 
do this task, and you will then have her in your 
power.” 


82 


A FRENCH STORY 


At this advice all of Grognon’s anger disap- 
peared and she thanked the fairy smilingly. 
She called for two of her attendants and bade 
them carry the feathers to the room where 
Graciosa was kept prisoner, and she herself also 
went there. 

The poor Princess was terrified when she saw 
Grognon appear once more, for she knew it could 
only mean some new trouble for her. 

The tub was set upon the floor, and Grognon 
motioned Graciosa to it. “Idle one,” she cried, 
“ here is something that will keep you busy for 
a few hours at least. Your task is to separate 
these feathers, putting the ones that belong to 
each kind of bird by themselves, and see that 
they are all separated by morning, or woe betide 
you.” 

She then left the room, taking the attendants 
with her and locking and double-locking the 
door behind her. 

As soon as Graciosa examined the tub of 
feathers, she knew the task to be hopeless, but 
nevertheless she sat down and made some at- 
tempt to separate the feathers ; but she did not 
83 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


even know which ones belonged together, and 
there were, besides, thousands and thousands of 
them. 

In despair she threw them back again into the 
tub, and burst into tears. “What will become 
of me ?” she sobbed. “Percinet I have offended 
so deeply that I dare not call upon him for help, 
and he is the only one who can aid me. Ah, how 
ungrateful I have been ! I would that that noble 
Prince were here that I might ask for his pardon 
before the Queen destroys me.” 

“I am here, beautiful Graciosa ! And not 
only ready but eager to help you. Do not fear. 
This task the Queen has set you is not as impos- 
sible as you seem to think it.” 

It was Percinet who spoke. He had appeared 
before her, handsome and graceful as ever. He 
now approached the tub of feathers and touched 
it with the silver wand which he carried. 

No sooner had he done this than the feathers 
arose in a many-colored cloud, and each kind, 
separating itself from the others, gathered in a 
little heap by itself. 

Graciosa hardly knew how to thank the Prince. 

84 


A FRENCH STORY 


“I desire no gratitude, but love only,” ex- 
claimed Percinet. “Has not this taught you 
that as long as you are in the Queen’s power 
there is no safety for you ? Oh, Graciosa, delay 
no longer. Come with me to my mother, and 
let us tell her you have consented to our mar- 
riage.” 

But Graciosa could not yet make up her mind 
to trust him. “Dear Percinet,” she said, weep- 
ing, “do not think me ungrateful, but how can 
I, a mortal maiden, ever mate with one who is 
half a fairy ? No, no. We could never be happy. 
Be to me a friend, as I will be to you, but do not 
ask me to marry you.” 

Percinet was deeply offended ; he could not 
help showing his resentment. 

“Farewell, proud Princess,” he said to her. 
“You say you are not ungrateful, and yet with 
every word you show your lack of trust in me. 
Heaven send that you may not suffer for the 
scorn you show me.” 

So saying, Percinet again disappeared, leaving 
the Princess alone and weeping. 

The next day, at earliest dawn, Grognon has- 

85 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


tened to Graciosa’s prison, and nothing could be 
greater than was her wonder and fury when she 
found the feathers separated and each kind lying 
neatly by itself. 

Her rage was so great that she could not for- 
bear from shaking Graciosa til the poor Prin- 
cess’s teeth rattled in her head, giving, as an ex- 
cuse, that the feathers were not laid evenly. 

She then went away in a rage to her own room, 
and calling the fairy to her, she scolded her at 
such a rate that her voice could be heard all over 
the castle. 

The fairy was confounded when she found this 
second task had also been accomplished, and, it 
seemed, as easily and quickly as the first. 

“ It is some magic/’ she repeated. “ Some one 
is helping her who is as powerful as I — perhaps 
even more so. But this is not the end of the 
matter. You shall still have a chance to punish 
the Princess at your pleasure. I have here a 
box. Give it to Graciosa, and bid her carry it 
to your castle, and leave it in a certain cabinet 
in the hall, but not by any means to open it on 
the way. Her curiosity will prove too much for 
86 


A FRENCH STORY 


her, she will think it no harm to peep into the 
box after she is out of sight and if she once 
opens it, she will find it impossible to close the 
lid on its contents and you can then punish her 
for her disobedience/’ 

The fairy at once disappeared, and Grognon 
sent for the Princess to come before her. 

Graciosa obeyed the summons, wondering what 
new sorrow was to come upon her, but to her 
surprise the Queen met her with a smiling face. 
“My dear Graciosa,” said she, “I have here 
a box which I wish to send to my palace, and 
what is within it is so precious and wonderful 
that I do not dare to trust it to any one but you. 
It is not locked, and there is no key to it, but 
do not open it on your way, whatever you do. 
Place it upon the central cabinet in the main hall, 
and then return to me in haste, that you may as- 
sure me that you have carried it there in safety.” 

Graciosa at once hastened to her room for a 
cloak, which she threw about her. She took the 
box that the Queen handed to her, and holding 
it in such a way that the folds of the cloak hid 
it, she set out upon her journey. 

87 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


The Queen looked after her with an evil smile. 

“This time she shall not escape me,” she mut- 
tered. “ Never will she be able to withstand her 
wish to see what it is that the box holds.” 

Gloriosa, indeed, was very curious. As she 
hastened along, clasping the box to her, she 
wondered more and more what could possibly be 
in it that was so precious that the Queen dared 
not trust it to any one but herself. The way was 
long, and the Princess was unused to walking, 
and so at last when she came to a green meadow 
with a brook flowing through it, she sat down to 
rest. As she sat there, she became so tormented 
by curiosity as to what was in the box, that 
at last she determined to raise the lid very 
carefully just a hair’s breadth, and take one 
look within. 

But scarcely had her fingers touched the lid 
when it flew open in her hands, and out from 
the box there streamed a host of little people. 
There were lords and ladies in fine clothes, and 
workmen, who at once set about putting up silken 
tents as a shelter from the sun. There were 
tiny coaches of gold, drawn by horses even 
88 


A FRENCH STORY 


smaller, and driven by coachmen with powdered 
wigs, and there were little footmen sitting beside 
them. There were cooks, who directed tiny 
scullions to build up fires and at once set about 
preparing a grand feast. Tables were spread, 
and small musicians began to play gay music 
to which the fine folk danced. 

It was all so wonderful and pretty that Gra- 
ciosa watched them, smiling, and with the great- 
est delight, quite forgetting that she had diso- 
obeyed the strict orders of the Queen, and that 
she would suffer for it. 

Suddenly a cloud came over the sun, and a few 
drops of rain fell. 

This brought Graciosa to herself. Laying 
down the box, she ran over to the tent where the 
little lords and ladies had taken shelter, and tried 
to gather them up so as to return them to the 
box again. But this they would not have. As 
soon as they found she intended to catch them, 
they ran away and hid themselves among the 
tufts of grasses and back of stones. Soon they 
had all disappeared. Not one of them was to be 
seen, though Graciosa looked for them all about. 
89 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


She was now so frightened that she was like 
one distracted. She ran about the meadow, 
calling to the little people to return, and at last, 
quite worn out with her exertions, she fell upon 
the ground and burst into tears. 

“Ah, Percinet, you will be well revenged,” 
she sobbed. “ Whatever will become of the poor 
Graciosa, and how shall I ever withstand the 
rage of the cruel Grognon ?” 

Suddenly she heard a deep sigh, and looking 
up, she saw that Percinet was standing beside 
her. Seeing him there, she could not restrain a 
cry of joy, but the Prince gazed upon her with 
a sad and sorrowful look. 

“Ah, Graciosa, would you ever remember 
me,” he asked, “ if it were not for the cruel 
Grognon ? ” 

Graciosa, ashamed, did not dare to raise her 
eyes to his. 

“ Cruelly as you have treated me,” said Per- 
cinet, “ I cannot leave you to suffer.” 

With these words he struck three times upon 
the lid of the box. At once, as though this were 
a signal, the little people came running out from 
90 


A FRENCH STORY 


their hiding places, and, as though each one 
wished to be the first, they hastened back into 
the box, pushing and hustling each other in their 
hurry. The workmen hastily folded the tents, 
the cook and his scullions gathered up their 
cooking utensils, the coachmen cracked their 
whips and shouted to their horses. Back into 
the box they crowded, the box closed of itself, 
and the meadow lay green and deserted in the 
sunlight. 

Graciosa would have thanked Percinet, but 
when she turned to speak to him, he was gone. 

“Alas, he is so angry I fear he no longer loves 
me,” sighed Graciosa, “while I have at last 
learned both to love and trust him. If he had 
but asked me again to return with him to the 
fairy palace, how gladly I would have agreed !” 

Sadly the Princess again set out for Grognon’s 
castle, and in due time arrived there without 
having had any more adventures, and placed the 
box in the cabinet in the main hall as the Queen 
had directed. 

When Grognon found that again Graciosa 
had accomplished her task, and so escaped 
9i 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


punishment, her rage was so great that she was 
like one who has suddenly gone crazy. She 
sent for the fairy, and as soon as she appeared, 
the Queen flew at her with teeth and nails. 

“ Miserable creature !” she shrieked. “You 
have deceived me. Three times you have prom- 
ised to put Gloriosa in my power. And what 
has happened ? Every time she has accom- 
plished the tasks and met me smiling. Begone, 
or I will tear you limb from limb.” 

Powerful as the fairy was, she was frightened 
by the fierceness of Grognon. She made haste to 
take herself out of the way and fled back to her 
castle, glad to have escaped with her life. 

Grognon now made up her mind to take mat- 
ters again into her own hands. She caused a 
deep pit to be dug in the garden, too deep for any 
one who fell into it to have any chance of es- 
caping. Over this a great stone was rolled, so 
that the mouth of the pit was hidden. 

The Queen then sent for Graciosa to come and 
walk with her in the garden. She also took 
several attendants with her. 

Though Grognon met Graciosa with a smile 
92 


A FRENCH STORY 


and seemed to have forgotten all her rage against 
her, the Princess was very uneasy. She feared 
the Queen’s plots and felt sure that some new 
evil was being planned against her, but she did 
not know from what direction the danger would 
come. 

As they walked along, the Queen so arranged 
it that presently they came to the place where 
the great stone was lying. Grognon pointed it 
out to Graciosa. “I am told,” said she, “that 
a great treasure lies hidden under that stone. 
We will roll it away and see whether those who 
told me of it have spoken the truth.” 

She then bade her attendants push the stone 
aside, and Graciosa, who was very good-natured, 
put her hands against the stone, and pushed, 
also. 

This was exactly what Grognon wished. She 
crept up back of Graciosa, and as soon as the pit 
was uncovered, she pushed the Princess so that 
she fell down into it, and the stone was then al- 
lowed to fall back into its place. 

At last the Queen was satisfied. She felt very 
sure that Graciosa could not escape from the pit, 
93 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


herself, and Grognon would see to it that no 
one went there to help her. She returned to 
the palace well pleased with her morning’s work. 

As for Graciosa, she was in despair. “Alas, 
Percinet ! Why did I not listen to you ?” she 
wept. “ Would that I might see you but once 
more before I perish, that I might tell you that 
at last I know the worth of all your love and 
devotion.” 

Suddenly, as she thus bemoaned herself, 
Graciosa saw, in the side of the pit a little door 
which she had not noticed before. She opened 
it, and to her joy and amazement saw before her 
the same avenue of many-colored stones which 
she had followed when she was lost in the forest, 
and there, at the end of the avenue, was the 
shining castle that she knew as the one belonging 
to Finetta. 

With a beating heart, Graciosa hurried along the 
avenue, and as she drew near the castle, the doors 
opened to her of their own accord, and standing 
within she saw the Fairy Finetta and Percinet. 

They looked upon her smiling, and Finetta 
said, “So you have at last returned to us, 
94 


A FRENCH STORY 


Graciosa, and I hope with wisdom enough to 
value the love that Percinet still feels for you.” 

“Indeed, Madam,” said the Princess, blush- 
ing, “my love is as great as that of Percinet him- 
self, and my trust in him is as unbounded.” 

With a cry of joy Percinet clasped her in his 
arms, while the fairy stood and smiled upon 
them. 

There was no reason now why they should not 
be married at once, and fairies were bidden from 
far and near to come to the ceremony, which was 
celebrated with the greatest magnificence. 

Among those who came was the fairy who had 
helped Grognon in her schemes against Graciosa. 
When she heard the story of the Princess and 
knew that she had all this time been under the 
protection of Prince Percinet, she became furious 
against Grognon At once she mounted her 
chariot drawn by dragons, and flew to the palace 
of the King Seeking Grognon out, she stran- 
gled her with a strand of the very silk that had 
been given to Graciosa, and so quick the fairy 
was about it that none of the courtiers had time 
to interfere 


95 


GRACIOSA AND PERCINET 


As for the Princess and Percinet, they lived 
happy forever after, in a magnificent palace of 
their own which Finetta provided for them, but 
she would never allow Graciosa to return even 
for a visit to the King who had treated her so 
cruelly. 


96 


THE GIANT’S CLIFF 
An Irish Story 

There was once a giant in Ireland, and his 
name was Mahon McMahon and he lived 
inside the cliffs that rose up straight from the 
sea. No one had ever seen door or window 
in the cliffs, and no one knew how the giant 
got in or out, but still it was said that he lived 
there, and there were those who told of how 
they had heard a strange sound of beating and 
the ringing of metal sounding from within, and 
had seen smoke rising up from the crevices. 

Back from the sea, but yet not so very far 
from the cliffs, there was a fine big house, 
and a man by the name of Thomas Renardy 
lived in it. He was a married man, and he 
and his wife had one son, a pretty little boy 
named Philip, and he was the joy of their life 
and the light of their eyes. 

With every year the boy grew handsomer 
and finer, till he was the admiration of all who 
saw him. All day he played about in the sun 
97 


THE GIANT’S CLIFF 


and the wind, and when his mother called him 
in to meals he came, and as soon as he had 
finished he was out again. 

So he grew till he was seven years old, and 
then one day his mother called him, but he did 
not come. She hunted him high, and she 
hunted him low, but nowhere could she find 
him. Then the neighbors joined in the search. 
They were out hallooing over the hills and 
through the forest, and over by the cliffs where 
the sea beats high, but there was no answer 
to their calling, not did they see aught of him, 
and his mother was left sorrowing. 

A sad and smileless woman was she after 
that, and months rolled up into years, until 
the years were seven ; and at the end of that 
time her grief for him was as green as at the 
beginning. 

Now there was a blacksmith in that country 
who was a great reader of dreams. People 
came from far and near to tell him their dreams 
and to ask the meaning of them. 

The name of the blacksmith was Robert 
Kelly, and he was a great hand at the forge. 


AN IRISH STORY 


One night the blacksmith had a dream of 
his own, and a curious dream it was. 

He dreamed a little lad came riding up on 
a great white horse. He was a handsome 
little fellow, with yellow hair and blue eyes, 
and Robert took him, from his size and looks, 
to be about seven years old, but at the same 
time there was something curious about him 
that made the blacksmith think he might be older. 

“Robert Kelly, do you remember me?” 
asked the lad. 

“I can’t say that I do,” answered the black- 
smith, “and yet there ’s something about you 
that makes me feel I may have seen you be- 
fore.” 

“Then have you forgotten Phil Renardy 
that was lost away seven long years ago ? ” 

Now the blacksmith knew of whom the boy 
had reminded him. It was of that little lost 
lad of the Renardys. 

“But that was seven long years ago, as you 
said,” replied the blacksmith, “and by this 
time Phil would be about fourteen years old. 
You will never be him.” 


99 


THE GIANT’S CLIFF 

“ Nevertheless I am,” said the boy. “It 
was the giant Mahon McMahon that stole 
me away seven years ago when I was playing 
near the cliffs, and I have been living with 
him and serving him ever since, and in the 
halls of the giant we who serve him never grow 
old, but stay as we were when he first brought 
us there.” 

Now all the while the blacksmith knew he 
was asleep, and he thought this dream of his 
was the strangest dream he had ever heard of. 

“Now I will tell you why I have come here,” 
the boy went on ; and he told Kelly how the 
very next night the seven years of his service 
were up. “Every seven years,” said he, “the 
giant’s door stands open from the stroke of 
midnight till cock’s crow the next morning. 
There is only one way to get to his door, and 
that is by way of the sea.” 

The lad then begged and implored the black- 
smith to get a boat and row out to the cliff 
the next night, and to wait there until mid- 
night, when the house opened. The black- 
smith was then to seek through it until he 


ioo 


AN IRISH STORY 


found the lad and then he was to bring him 
away with him. 

“And to-morrow, when my first seven years 
of service is up, is the only time you can do 
it,” said he. “If you will not, then I can never 
escape, but must stay there in service to the 
giant for always.” 

Then Kelly, who still knew he was asleep, 
said, “But after all, this is all in a dream, and 
when I waken I ’ll think there ’s no meaning 
to it.” 

“Then I ’ll give you a token to prove to you 
that this is no common dreaming,” said Philip. 

With that he turned his horse about, and 
the horse lashed out at the blacksmith with 
his hind leg, and the hoof struck him on the 
forehead with such force that it seemed as 
though his head would be crushed in. 

The blacksmith cried out with the blow and 
woke to find the blood streaming down his 
face, and when he had wiped it away and was 
able to examine his forehead, there was the 
mark of a horseshoe on it. 

Robert said nothing to any one about his 


IOI 


THE GIANT’S CLIFF 


dream, not even when they saw the mark on 
his forehead and wondered about it, so they 
thought that in some way when he was shoe- 
ing a horse it must have managed to kick him. 
But that night he went secretly to a friend 
of his who had a boat and asked him whether 
he would row him out in front of the cliffs just 
before midnight. 

The friend was loth to do it, for he had small 
liking for going out at night on the sea and 
to a place that was but ill thought of ; for there 
were all these tales about sounds that had been 
heard from inside the cliff and that they might 
be made by Mahon McMahon. 

However, in the end Robert persuaded him, 
and a little before midnight they set out. 
There was enough moonlight for them to see 
the way to go, and as they rowed toward the 
cliffs, Robert told his friend, for the first time, why 
he was coming there and what he hoped to do. 

“And whether it was a dream or no I can’t 
tell you,” said he, “for I was sleeping, and yet 
here, all the same, is the mark of the horse’s 
hoof on my forehead.” 


102 


AN IRISH STORY 


Well, the friend thought it a strange tale. 
“And it’s hard to believe there’s any truth 
in it,” said he ; “but here we are in front of the 
cliffs, and this night will prove the worth of 
your dreaming.” 

He held the boat there in front of the rocks 
with his oars, and the minutes slipped by, and 
neither of the men spoke, and everything was 
silent. Then from far away, and faintly, they 
heard the village clock strike twelve. 

Again they waited, and then suddenly and 
without a sound the front of the cliff opened, 
and they saw a portico down almost on a level 
with the water, and a great door opening out 
upon it. Inside the door were steps cut in the 
rock and leading up and out of sight. A light 
shone out through the door and across the 
water, but it was not very bright. 

“Here is where I chance it,” said the black- 
smith. “Row me up close so that I may step 
out on the portico, for according to my dream, 
it ’s in there I must go if I am to find little Philip 
Renardy.” 

The whole matter was so strange that his 
103 


THE GIANT’S CLIFF 


friend tried to dissuade him from going, but 
the blacksmith would not listen to him. 

“I’ve a sign from him on my forehead,” 
he said, “and go I must and will. Do you 
wait here for me till cock’s crow, and if I have n’t 
come by then, there ’s no use in your waiting 
longer.” 

His friend rowed him up close to the edge 
of the portico, and the blacksmith climbed 
out on it, and watchfully he crept over to the 
door and peered in. Everything was still, 
and he saw nothing but the steps leading up- 
ward, and they were so high, each one of them, 
that it was as much as he could do to climb them. 

He carried a plowshare that he had 
brought with him from his smithy, for some- 
how he thought a plowshare might be a good 
weapon if he needed one. And anyhow, it 
gave him some sort of a feeling of courage to 
have hold of it. 

He climbed the steps, one after another, 
and that took him some time, and then he came 
into a great hall, and in the center of it was 
a table hewn out of rock. 

104 


AN IRISH STORY 


Around this table sat seven giants. They 
sat there bending forward as though they were 
consulting with each other, but none of them 
moved or spoke, or even so much as winked 
an eyelid. They might have been carven fig- 
ures, for all the signs of life they gave. 

At the head of the table sat a giant with a 
long beard, and he had been sitting there so 
long that his beard had grown into the slab 
of rock that was the top of the table. 

Robert Kelly stood there looking at them 
for a while, and then, as none of them took 
any notice of him, he called in a loud voice, 
"Is any one among you named Mahon Mc- 
Mahon ?” 

At that the giant at the head of the table 
started up so suddenly that the pulling out of 
his beard.’split the rock of the table into pieces, 
but none of the others stirred nor looked at 
him. 

"I am Mahon McMahon,” cried the giant. 
"And what do you come seeking me for?” 

"I have come here in search of little Phil 
Renardy,” cried the blacksmith boldly, "and 
io 5 


THE GIANTS CLIFF 


I have been told that you are the one who can 
tell me where to find him.” 

The giant looked at him in silence for a bit, 
and then he said, “Yes, I can tell you where 
to find him, and better than that, I can even 
show you where he is.” 

He then led the way into a great stone cham- 
ber on beyond the hall, and it was glowing 
with fires, and there in it were a great number 
of young lads. It seemed to the blacksmith 
that there were hundreds of them, and they 
were all busy at some kind or other of metal work. 

When Mahon McMahon came in, they 
stopped their work and stood back against the 
wall, and the blacksmith saw that not one 
among them looked to be more than seven 
years old, and they were all so much alike that 
they might have been brothers. 

“If you are a friend of Phil Renardy, no 
doubt you can choose him from all others,” 
said the giant. “And now look about you, 
and if you can tell me at the first telling which 
is he, then you may take him away with you, 
and no harm to any one. But if you cannot 
106 


AN IRISH STORY 


tell me, then it was an ill hour for you when 
you entered my house, for you ’ll never go out 
again.” 

This frightened the blacksmith, but still 
he kept his wits about him and looked care- 
fully from one lad to the other, but for the 
life of him he could not tell of a surety which 
was Phil Renardy, for he had no clear remem- 
brance of him. 

In order to gain time he said to the giant, 
“ And are all these fine lads servants of yours ?” 

“They are,” replied Mahon McMahon, “and 
it has taken me a long time to gather them 
together.” 

“You must be a good master,” went on 
Robert Kelly, “for they all look rosy and in 
good condition, and I ’m sure you treat them 
well, and they must be fond of you.” He 
thought by talking in this way he might flat- 
ter the giant and put him in a good humor. 

“That is a true word you have spoken,” said 
the giant, “and I ’m sure you must be an honest 
man, so let us shake hands upon it.” 

He held out his hand to the blacksmith, but 
107 


THE GIANT’S CLIFF 


when Bob Kelly looked at it, it was so thick 
and broad and cruel looking that he was afraid 
to trust his own hand to it. “For if he were 
to take the fancy,” thought Bob, “he could 
crush it as easily as I could crush a rotten po- 
tato.” So, instead of putting his hand into 
the giant’s, he put the plowshare in it, and 
the giant shut his fingers tight on it, so that 
it crumpled up as though the iron had no more 
strength in it than a piece of paper. 

“Praises be it was not my hand he was 
squeezing,” thought Robert Kelly. 

“You have a strong hand,” said the giant, 
“but you need a stronger than that if you’re 
to shake hands with Mahon McMahon.” 

Then all the little lads burst into laughter, 
but through their laughter he thought he heard 
some one sighing, “Robert Kelly! Robert 
Kelly ! I am here behind you.” 

He turned about quickly, and there behind 
him was one lad among them who was not 
laughing. And like a flash the blacksmith 
seized hold of him and cried out, “This is Phil 
Renardy, and the one I would take with me.” 

108 


AN IRISH STORY 


“Bad cess to you!” cried the giant, “but 
you Ve chosen rightly.” 

Then all grew dark, but Robert Kelly kept 
tight hold of the boy he had chosen, and he 
could hear many voices about him, crying, 
“Happy Philip Renardy ! Happy Philip 
Renardy !” 

The next he knew the sun was shining, and 
he was lying on the grass at the top of the cliff, 
and the little lad was watching beside him. 

“And are you of a truth the little Philip 
Renardy that’s been lost for so long?” asked 
Kelly. 

“I am that one,” replied the lad, “and it is 
you that have saved me ; and now let us be 
up and off, for my heart is aching within me 
for a sight of my mother.” 

So the blacksmith rose up, and took the 
little lad’s hand and led him to the big house 
of the Renardys, and the lad seemed to know 
the way better than he did. And no sooner 
did Mrs. Renardy see him than she knew the 
lad as her son and was like to have gone dis- 
tracted with the joy of it. That was a com- 
109 


THE GIANT’S CLIFF 


fort to Bob Kelly, too, for all the time he had 
kept wondering whether by chance he might 
not have brought back the wrong boy with him. 

When he at last left them and went back 
to his smithy, he found quite a crowd gath- 
ered there, talking about him, for when he 
had n’t come back to the boat his friend had 
made sure the cliff had closed on him, and that 
mortal eye would never again behold him. 

But when the people who had gathered heard 
his tale, there was great rejoicing, and all the 
bells of the village were rung, and a great crowd 
hurried away to the Renardy’s house, to get 
a glimpse of the boy who had been stolen by 
the giant. 

Soon after his return, the boy began to grow 
again, but he never became very big, and there 
was always something a bit strange about him, 
though after a while he married and had chil- 
dren of his own who were fine stout fellows, 
and all of them were wonderful workers in 
metals. 

As for Robert Kelly, his adventures were 
the making of him, for people came from 


no 


AN IRISH STORY 

everywhere to have him do their work for 
them, so as to have a chance to hear him tell 
his story. Moreover, Philip taught him some 
of the secrets of working with metal that he 
had learned in the giant’s house, so that he 
became quite famous. 

But the giant was never heard of again, and 
no more sounds came from within the cliff 
house, so it was supposed that he had left that 
part of the country and chosen some other 
place as his dwelling. 


ill 


THE STORY OF CONN-EDA 


An Irish Tale 

King Conn of Ireland had one noble son 
named Conn-eda, and he was as dear to his father 
as the apple of his eye, — none dearer. 

His mother had died while he was still a child, 
and after a while the King, his father, married 
again. He married the young daughter of his 
chief priest, but he did not marry her because he 
loved her, and that is the truth. He married her 
because his councilors told him that it was a wise 
thing for him to do, for this chief priest was very 
powerful. 

The new Queen was a cruel woman, and her 
hatred of Conn-eda was bitter and deep. She 
hated him because he was so handsome and free- 
hearted, and she hated him because he was so 
dear to his father, but most of all she hated him 
because every one looked to him as the one who 
would sometime be their king, and there was no 
knowing how soon that would be, for already his 
father was old and feeble. 


1 12 


AN IRISH TALE 


After a while the young Queen had a child of 
her own, and then she hated Conn-eda worse 
than ever and was always plotting how she could 
get rid of him, for she wanted the kingdom to 
come to her own son. 

Now there was a woman who lived down back 
of the castle in a poor tumble-down hut, and it 
was said that she knew more than a little about 
magic, and every one was afraid of her. She 
was the hen-wife, and had charge of all the chick- 
ens that belonged to the castle. She was a hand- 
some woman and a strange one, and no one could 
tell whether she were young or old, and she 
might have been either. 

One day the Queen went by herself down to the 
hut to visit the hen-wife, for she wished to ask 
her advice. She was not ashamed to go, either, 
because of the woman being an enchantress. 

“Queen Durfulla,” said the hen-wife, “I 
know why you have come to me, and what you 
are after wanting.” 

That surprised the Queen, and she said, “What 
is it I am wanting, then ?” 

“You are wanting to rid yourself of young 
1 13 


THE STORY OF CONN-EDA 


Conn-eda, and it is for my advice you have come 
hither. But I am not one to give something for 
nothing. What reward will I have if I give you 
my advice ? ” 

“What reward will you be wanting?” asked 
the Queen. 

“It ’s none so much and none so little. Give 
me enough wool to fill the hole between my arm 
and body when I set my hand on my hip with 
my elbow out, and give me enough red wheat to 
fill the hole I shall bore with my distaff, and my 
advice is yours for the asking.” 

Well, the Queen could not help smiling at that, 
for it seemed but a small reward for any one to 
ask, and she gladly agreed to give it. 

“Then have the wool and the wheat brought 
here to-morrow,” said the hen-wife. “Twenty 
cartloads of wool, and twenty cartloads of wheat 
will be none too much to fill the hollow between 
my arm and body and the hole I ’ll make.” 

The Queen thought that was a strange thing 
to say, and that the hen-wife must be dreaming, 
but all the same she was back at the hen-wife’s 
door the next day, and close after her came 
1 14 


AN IRISH TALE 


twenty cartloads of wool and twenty cartloads 
of wheat, with the horses pulling and the carters 
cracking their whips. 

The hen-wife stood in the doorway with her 
hand on her hip and her elbow out, and the men 
took an armful of wool and put it in the hollow 
of her arm, but it fell through the hollow and in- 
side the house. They stuffed another armful in 
between her arm and body, and the same thing 
happened to it. Not until the house was so full 
of wool that it could hold no more were they able 
to fill the hollow of the hen-wife’s arm as she 
stood in the doorway. 

“And now for the wheat,” said the hen-wife. 

Then she led them to her brother’s house 
which was close by, and climbed up on the 
roof. The roof was of peat, and she bored a 
hole down through the peat with her distaff, so 
that as fast as they poured the wheat into the 
hole, it ran down into the house, and not until 
the house was so full that it could hold no more 
could they fill the hole, too. 

“Now I am satisfied,” said the hen-wife, but 
that was more than the Queen could say, for she 
US 


THE STORY OF CONN-EDA 


was a mean woman. However, if the hen-wife 
could tell her how to rid herself of Prince 
Conn-eda, it was more to her than all the 
wheat and wool that ever were grown. 

“Now listen well to what I tell you,” said the 
hen-wife. “You have paid me faithfully and 
fully, and I am ready to keep my part of the 
bargain, too. Far and far enough from here, 
there lies a great dark lake, and the name of it is 
Lough Erne. Under its waters lives the King of 
the Fiborg race, a race that lives in the water 
most happily. There, in the King’s garden, 
grow three golden apples. In his stable stands 
a grand black steed. In his castle lies the 
puppy-hound Samur, and great are the magic 
powers of that hound. You must send 
Conn-eda to get these things for you, and to 
fetch them back within a year and a day and it ’s 
not a living being who can seek those things and 
not lose his life in the seeking, unless he has 
magic to help him.” 

“But how can I send Conn-eda?” asked the 
Queen, “for he is not a child that he must do my 
bidding.” 

116 


AN IRISH TALE 


“ That also I will tell you,” replied the hen-wife. 

She then brought out a chessboard and chess- 
men and gave them to the Queen. “Do you 
take these home with you,” she said, “and call 
Conn-eda to come and play a game of chess with 
you. I have set a charm on the men, and I have 
set a charm on the board, so that you will be 
sure to win ; but before you play you must make 
a bargain with the Prince that whichever loses 
shall pay a forfeit to the winner, and the forfeit 
you shall ask of him is that he fetch to you the 
three things I have told you of. But be sure 
that you play only the one game, for after that 
is played the charm will lose its power.” 

The Queen was pleased with the advice the 
hen-wife gave her, and she took the chessboard 
and the chessmen and promised to do in all 
things as she had been told. Then she hastened 
back to the castle. 

No sooner was she there than she sent for 
Conn-eda to come and have a game of chess, and 
he came at her command and sat down at the 
board with her. 

“ It is not for nothing we will play together this 
ii 7 


THE STORY OF CONN-EDA 

day,” said the Queen, “ but whichever loses 
shall pay a forfeit to the other, and the forfeit 
shall be whatever the winner chooses to de- 
mand.” 

To this Conn-eda agreed. He had it in his 
head that the Queen was planning some trick 
against him, but he did not fear her, for he made 
sure he could beat her at the game. 

So they sat down to play, and Conn-eda was 
a good player, and the Queen was a poor one, 
but it seemed as though there were a mist before 
the Prince’s eyes, and when he thought he had 
made one play he found he had made another, 
and presently he saw he had lost the game, 
and the Queen was the winner. 

Then she laughed aloud and pushed the board 
from her. “The game is mine, Conn-eda,” she 
cried, “and it is for you to pay the forfeit. 
Whatever I ask for, that shall you pay, no matter 
what be the cost.” 

When the Prince heard that, his heart was 
troubled within him, and he said to her, “What 
is that forfeit that you will demand of me ?” 

“This is the forfeit,” the Queen replied. 

1 18 


AN IRISH TALE 


“Within a year and a day you shall bring to me 
three golden apples, and a grand black steed, 
and the magic puppy-hound Samur and they all 
belong to the King of the Fiborg people. He 
lives at the bottom of Lough Erne, but where 
that is I know not, and you must find it for 
yourself/’ 

When the Prince Conn-eda heard that, he 
knew the Queen had indeed tricked him, and the 
forfeit he was like to pay was that of his life. 
But he dissembled and hid his fear, and said, 
“The forfeit I will pay, if it be in mortal power 
to do so. And now we will play another game, 
and again it shall be for a forfeit, with the loser to 
pay it.” 

The Queen was so full of triumph that she 
forgot the warning of the hen-wife and willingly 
agreed to play once more with Conn-eda. 

But now the magic had gone out of the board, 
and this time the Prince was the winner. 

When the Queen found she had lost, her face 
grew pale, and her heart sank down within her. 

“You have won, Conn-eda,” said she. “And 
what is the forfeit I must pay to you ?” 

119 


THE STORY OF CONN-EDA 


“The forfeit is this,” said Conn-eda. “For 
the year and the day that I am away, you must 
sit at the top of the highest tower of the castle 
and eat nothing but as much red wheat as you 
can pick up with the point of your bodkin.” 

That was a hard fate for the Queen, but after 
all, it would be only for a year and a day, and at 
the end of that time she would be free again and 
rid of Prince Conn-eda forever, so the bargain 
was not so hard as it seemed at first hearing. 
So the Queen went up and took her place in 
the high tower, and the Prince mounted his horse 
and rode out into the world in search of the 
golden apples, the grand black steed, and the 
magic puppy-hound Samur. 

But first Conn-eda went to a Wise Man he 
knew, who was a friend of his. Many and 
many a favor the Prince had done for him, and 
now it was time to ask one in return. 

The Wise Man heard Conn-eda galloping up 
and came out of the house to meet him, and the 
Prince lighted down from his horse and greeted 
him respectfully. 

“I am in great trouble,” Conn-eda began, 


120 


AN IRISH TALE 

“and I have come to you to see if you can help 
99 

me. 

“That I guessed at once from your face,” 
replied the Wise Man, “and you had best begin 
at the beginning and tell me the whole story, for 
it's only after I Ve heard the whole of it that I’ll 
best know how to help you.” 

So the Prince began and told the Wise Man 
the whole matter from beginning to end. He 
told of the Queen’s hatred toward him and of the 
ways she had tried to injure him ; he told of how 
she had bidden him to play a game of chess with 
her, and of how he had feared her and yet made 
no doubt of winning the game ; and he told of 
how in some strange way he had become the 
loser, and how the Queen had claimed a forfeit 
from him, and what it was she had claimed. 

“And we played still again, and that time it 
was for her to pay the forfeit” ; and he told what 
the forfeit was that he had demanded of her. 

“And it was no more than her just dues,” 
said the Wise Man. “I make no doubt but that 
the Queen has sought to make you lose your life 
in this business, and it was a clever brain that 


THE STORY OF CONN-EDA 


thought out this trick. There is some one back 
cf it other than the Queen.” 

He thought for a while, and then he spoke 
again. “ There is but one person who would 
have known of the golden apples, the grand 
black steed, and the magic hound Samur, and 
that one is the Wise Woman who lives in the 
hut down back of the palace. She calls herself a 
hen-wife, but of a truth she is Carlleach of 
Lough Corib, and the sister of the Water King 
himself. There are four of the water people, 
three brothers and one sister. The first is King 
of the Fiborgs, and the second is under some 
enchantment. The third lives in a house next 
to that of the hen-wife, and the fourth is 
Carlleach herself. And now, my son, I will do 
what I can to help you. Where Lough Corib is 
I know not, but out in my stable is a little 
shaggy black horse. He is not much to look 
at, but he is great in power. Take him and 
ride whithersoever he carries you, and leave the 
rein loose on his neck that he may choose his 
own way. He will take you to the crag where 
the Bird of Wisdom sits. Three days in every 


122 


AN IRISH TALE 


three years the bird sits there, and it’s little 
that goes on in the world that he does not know 
about. This is the time for him to be sitting on 
the crag, and if he will but speak, he can tell you 
how to set about finding the lake and the Water 
King’s treasures.” 

The Wise Man then took out a very beautiful 
and very precious jewel from a box that stood on 
a shelf behind the door and gave it to Conn-eda. 

“If the Bird of Wisdom will not speak,” said 
he, “give him this jewel in his claw, and then it 
may be that he will answer you.” 

Conn-eda took the jewel and thanked the Wise 
Man kindly, and then he went out to the stable 
and led forth the shaggy little black horse and 
mounted himself on him, instead of his own fine 
steed, and indeed the little horse was not much 
to look at. But no sooner was Conn-eda on his 
back than he found what a worth-while horse he 
was, for away he went lighter than a bird and 
swifter than the wind, and it was like no other 
riding that Conn-eda had ever done. 

A long way and a short way went the shaggy 
black horse, and all the while Conn-eda let the 
123 


THE STORY OF CONN-EDA 


rein lie loose, so that the horse was free to choose 
his own way, and then they came within sight of 
a cliff, and on the cliff sat a great gray bird. It 
sat so still it might have been a part of the rocks 
for any motion that it had, and the eyes in its 
head were as dull as cold, dead stones. 

The horse halted before the cliff and bade the 
Prince speak to the bird. “For it is the Bird 
of Wisdom of which the Wise Man spoke,” said 
he, “and unless it can tell us what to do next 
we might as well turn back the way we came 
for we ’ll never win to the lake where the King 
of the Fiborgs lives.” 

Then Conn-eda lifted up his voice and called 
to the bird. Three times he called to it, but the 
bird never stirred even a feather, but sat there 
still as though it were carved from the rocks. 

Then the shaggy steed said, “Give it the jewel, 
Conn-eda, and perchance it will speak.” 

The Prince took the jewel from his bosom 
where he carried it and held it up so that it 
sparkled in the sunlight, and again he called to 
the bird ; and this time it turned its head and 
looked at him, and its eyes grew bright as though 
124 


AN IRISH TALE 


a fire were lighted within it. Then it flew down 
and caught the jewel in its claw and flew back 
with it to the cliff. 

There it sat, and opened its beak, and cried in 
a harsh voice, “Conn-eda! Conn-eda ! Son of 
the King of Cruachan, I know why you have 
come and what you would have of me. Light 
down and lift the stone that is close to the right 
forefoot of your steed. Under it you will find a 
ball and a cup. Take them up, for you will have 
need of both of them. The ball you must roll 
before you and follow wherever it leads you. It 
will bring you to the place whither you would go. 
The cup you will need later.” 

Then the Bird of Wisdom closed its beak, and 
the light died out of its eyes, and again it sat as 
still and gray as though there were no breath of 
life in it. 

Conn-eda lighted down and looked for the 
stone the bird had told him of, and he could not 
miss it for the horse’s right fore hoof was against 
it. He lifted it up and there he found a cup and 
ball. The cup he placed in the bosom of his 
shirt, but the ball he threw before him, according 
1 25 


THE STORY OF CONN-EDA 


to the bird’s bidding, and on and on it rolled, up 
hill and down dale, over bog and through briars, 
with Conn-eda on the shaggy steed following 
hard after it. 

After a while it led them to the edge of a lake 
so dark and deep you might have thought there 
was no bottom to it, and into this lake the ball 
bounded and so was lost to sight. 

The Prince was in despair. “Now what are 
we to do ?” cried he. “If we follow the ball, we 
are like to be drowned in the deep waters of the 
lough, and if we do not follow it, we will never 
win to the palace of the Water King.” 

But the shaggy steed bade him take heart. 
“We must indeed still follow the ball,” said he, 
“but even so it is possible no harm may come to 
us. And now sit tight, my master.” With that 
the horse plunged into the lough, and down 
and down through the still cold waters. 

Conn-eda sat close, as the steed bade him, and 
presently they came through the water and out 
into a land of pleasant meadows and flowing 
streams. The lake was above them like a sky, 
with the sun shining down through it, and not 
126 


AN IRISH TALE 


a hair of either of them was wet, and the ball was 
lying there at their feet. 

“Now Conn-eda, light down,” said the steed 
“ and reach your hand first into one of my ears 
and then into the other. In the one you will 
find a small wicker basket, and in the other a 
flask of heal-all water. We will need them both, 
for now we are drawing near to the dangerous 
part of the adventure.” 

The Prince did as he was told and put his hand 
into the horse’s ears, first into one and then into 
the other. In the one he found the wicker 
basket and in the other the flask of water. Then 
he mounted again and off he rode, and the ball 
that had been lying still all this time rolled be- 
fore them to show the way, and they followed 
close after it. 

After a bit they came to the end of the meadow 
and there was a great stretch of water with a 
causeway leading across it, and along the cause- 
way rolled the ball. But Conn-eda drew rein, 
and no wonder, for the causeway was guarded 
by three great fiery serpents. They lay there 
stretched across and across it, and the smoke 
127 


THE STORY OF CONN-EDA 


rose up from their breathing in three great 
columns, and as the Prince looked at them, his 
heart melted within him like wax, for they were 
a fearful sight. 

But the shaggy steed bade him take heart. 
“It’s the truth, Conn-eda, that we must pass 
those fiery serpents,” he said. “Backward we 
cannot go, so forward we must. Now open the 
basket, and you will find in it three pieces of 
meat. As I leap over the serpents you must 
throw one piece into the mouth of each of them. 
If you do this, we may pass safely over them, 
and pray that your aim be good, for if you miss 
the mouth of any of them, it will be death both 
for you and me.” 

So Conn-eda opened the lid of the basket and 
found the pieces of meat and took them out, and 
the steed set out along the causeway, straight 
toward where the monsters lay. 

As horse and rider came near them, the ser- 
pents reared up and opened their fiery jaws, and 
made at Conn-eda and his steed as though to 
devour them ; but the Prince was ready, and as 
the steed leaped over them Conn-eda threw a 
128 



The serpents reared up and opened their fiery jaws. 

Page 128 





AN IRISH TALE 


piece of meat into each of the flaming mouths ; 
not one of them did he miss. 

At once the serpents were satisfied, and their 
heads sank down, and they lay as though asleep. 

But the steed alighted on the causeway far 
beyond them, and Conn-eda’s hands held lightly 
to the reins. 

“Conn-eda, are you still astride of me ?” 

“ I am,” answered the Prince, “and none 
the worse for the danger we passed over.” 

“Now it comes to me that you are a noble and 
heroic Prince,” said the steed, “and I have high 
hopes that we may win through all our adven- 
tures with great reward to both of us at the end 
of them.” 

Then on they went, and on they went until 
they came to a flaming mountain, and the heat 
of it was very great. 

“Are you sitting firm on my back ?” asked the 
shaggy black horse. 

“ I am sitting firm,” replied the Prince. 

“ Then stir not. Look neither to the right nor 
left, nor up nor down, for I am going to leap over 
the mountain, and if my leap is broken by so 
129 


THE STORY OF CONN-EDA 


much as a hairbreadth, we will both fall into the 
flames, and that will be the end of us.” 

When Conn-eda heard this, fear seemed to 
clutch at the very heart of him, but he settled 
himself in the saddle, and when the horse leaped, 
he kept in mind what had been said to him, and 
looked neither to the right hand nor the left, nor 
up nor down, nor stirred so much as a hair- 
breadth in his seat. 

The good steed carried him over, but they were 
not so high above the mountain but what the 
flames came up and licked Conn-eda’s feet and 
his clothing. 

“Are you still alive, Conn-eda?” asked the 
steed, when they alighted upon the other side 
of it. 

“I am just alive, and no more,” replied Conn- 
eda, “for I am greatly scorched.” 

“That is both well and ill,” said the horse. 
“Well that you are still alive, and ill that you are 
so sore burned. Take the flask and rub some of 
the heal-all that is in it on your burns, and they 
will pass away.” 

This Conn-eda did, and at once his burns dis- 
130 


AN IRISH TALE 


appeared as though they had never been there, 
and his flesh and skin were all well and sound 
again. 

“The worst of our dangers are over now,” 
said the shaggy black horse, “but other things 
are still to be done that you may find hard in the 
doing. Now mount and ride again, and I can 
tell you we are not far from the palace of the 
Water King, whither we would be going.” 

Conn-eda mounted again, and on they rode 
and fast they went, and then they came within 
sight of a castle, with shining domes and turrets, 
and great golden gateways. 

Here the shaggy steed bade the Prince again 
light down. 

“Now, Conn-eda, listen well and answer 
truly,” said the steed, “for on what happens 
next hangs both your fate and my own. So now 
tell me of a truth, have I served you well ?” 

“ None could have served better,” replied 
the Prince. 

“Have I saved your life, or have I risked it ?” 

“You have saved it, and except for you I 
would have lost it far back on the road.” 

131 


THE STORY OF CONN-EDA 


“And now the time has come to prove whether 
or no you are grateful. Put your hand in my 
ear and take out the dagger you will find there. 
Fear not and shrink not, but drive it into my 
heart, for thus and thus only can you reward me 
for what I have done for you.” 

When the Prince heard these words from the 
steed, he was filled with horror. “Never, never 
will I do such a cruel and wicked thing,” he 
cried. “Rather would I drive the dagger into 
my own heart than into yours.” 

“ If you will not, you will not,” said the shaggy 
black horse, “but this I tell you plainly ; except 
you do this thing, both you and I must perish.” 

Well, the steed talked on and on, and at last 
Conn-eda consented to do as he was asked, 
though it seemed to him his hand must wither 
in the doing. 

“That is well,” cried the steed, as soon as he 
had consented. “And now I will tell you what 
further you must do. As soon as you have driven 
the dagger into me, strip off my hide, and get 
into it yourself. You will then be free to go in 
and out of the castle as you please, though other- 
132 


AN IRISH TALE 


wise you would be slain by the people there the 
moment you entered. Go through the golden 
gateway in the center, and the first thing you 
will see is a leaping silver fountain. Fill the cup 
you found beneath the stone with this water and 
bring it back and sprinkle the water over me. 
Then all will be well. But oh, Conn-eda, haste 
haste in your going and coming, for as soon as 
you have left me, the birds of prey will gather 
about me, and if they tear me to pieces, there 
will be no further help for me.” 

Conn-eda promised to do in all things as the 
steed bade him, and he then put his hand in its 
ear and found the dagger it had told him about. 
But he trembled so that he had scarce strength 
to even so much as point the dagger at the steed, 
let alone strike him. But this was all that was 
needed, for as soon as the dagger was turned 
toward him, it flew forward, carrying Conn- 
eda’ s hand with it, and buried itself to the hilt 
in the steed’s heart, so that he fell dead. 

Then the Prince wept bitter tears over his 
dead companion. After awhile he arose and 
took the dagger to strip off the hide as he had 
133 


THE STORY OF CONN-EDA 


promised ; but there was no need of cutting, for 
no sooner did he catch hold of the hide than it 
came off like a loose glove from the hand within 
it, and the hide was as soft and fine as though it 
had been tanned by the king of tanners. 

Conn-eda got into the hide, and then he did 
not stay nor tarry but hastened away to the cas- 
tle, as the steed had bidden him, and in through 
the golden gateway. 

There within was a great hall with many 
people moving about in it, and warders at the 
door, but no one spoke to him nor stayed him. 
In the center of the hall was the leaping silver 
fountain of which the steed had told him, and 
to this the Prince hastened and he filled his cup 
with its water, and then back he ran the way he 
had come, to where the steed was lying. 

But swift as had been his going and coming, he 
was only just in time, for already the birds of prey 
were gathering, and he had to fight them with 
his sword before he could drive them away. 

Then he sprinkled the water from the cup upon 
the body of the steed, and no sooner had he done 
this than a strange thing happened, for at once 
134 


AN IRISH TALE 


the steed was gone, and there in its place stood 
a young and handsome prince, and he was so 
tall and so noble in his air that Conn-eda had 
never seen the like of him. 

The young man came over to Conn-eda and 
took him in his arms, and his face was streaming 
with tears, but they were tears of joy. 

“Conn-eda,” said he, “you have saved me 
from a hard and cruel fate, and little did I think 
I would ever come back into my own shape again 
and live as other men do. I am own brother to 
the Water King, and it was because of a cruel 
enchantment that I was obliged to go about 
in the shape of a shaggy little black horse. 

“ The enchantment held me fast, and only if one 
would ride me back to the castle and through true 
love would slay me and sprinkle me with water 
from the fountain, could the spell be broken. 

“This you have done for me, Conn-eda, and 
never will I forget what I owe you. And now 
come with me back to the castle of my brother, 
that he may make you welcome.” 

So Conn-eda and his companion went back to 
the castle, and there the joy was so great that 
135 


THE BLUE BELT 
A Norse Tale 

A beggar woman and her son were walking 
along through the country, and they came to a 
crossroad, and there, right in the dust of the 
road, lay a handsome belt of blue leather. 

The lad asked his mother’s leave to pick 
it up and wear it. 

“Let it alone,” said the woman crossly. 
“For all we know, there may be some magic 
about it. Indeed, I am almost sure there is, 
for I don’t like the looks of it.” 

The lad begged and pleaded to be allowed 
to pick it up, but the old woman would not 
hear to it, and so in the end he was obliged to 
go on without it. But all the same, as they 
trudged along, he kept thinking and thinking 
about the belt, and the farther they went the 
more he wished he had it. 

After a while they came to where the road 
led through a forest, and the lad made some 
138 


A NORSE TALE 


excuse to step aside for a moment. He slipped 
along from one tree to another until he was 
out of his mother’s sight ; and then he ran 
back to where the blue belt was lying. He 
picked it up and buckled it around him under 
his shirt where it could not be seen. 

No sooner had he done this, than he felt as 
though the strength of ten men had passed 
into him. It seemed to him as though he could 
tear up trees by the roots if he chose, or carry 
a mountain on his shoulders and think noth- 
ing of it. 

When he came back, his mother was in a 
fine rage. “I ought to beat you for keeping 
me waiting all this time,” she cried, “ and 
I would do it, too, if I were not so tired. Wher- 
ever we ’re to sleep I ’m sure I don’t know, for 
it ’s too late now to get on to the next village.” 

The boy answered nothing, but he trudged 
along at his mother’s side, and all the while 
he was feeling stronger and stronger. 

After a while the old woman said she was 
tired, and she would have to sit down and rest 
a bit. 


139 


THE BLUE BELT 


The lad asked leave to go to the top of a 
cliff close by, so as to look about and see whether 
he could not see a house somewhere near. 

“Go if you choose,” said his mother, “but 
if you stay away as you did before, I ’ll give 
you a good beating when you get back, how- 
ever tired I am.” 

The lad ran quickly to the top of the cliff 
and looked about him, and there, sure enough, 
off toward the North, he saw the light of a 
house, and it was not so very far away, either. 

He ran down and told his mother what he 
had seen. “Mother, let us go there and ask 
for a bite to eat, for if we don’t, we’ll have 
to go hungry till to-morrow,” he cried. “And 
maybe the people who live there will let us 
spend the night there, too.” 

The mother began to groan and lament. 
“Never in the world could I climb up that 
cliff and over,” said she. “I’m so tired I 
can scarce put one foot before the other, and 
that ’s the truth of the matter.” 

“Never bemoan yourself about that,” cried 
the lad, “ for I ’ll carry you over” ; and so saying, 
140 


A NORSE TALE 

he caught her up as though she weighed no 
more than a feather, and ran up the cliff and 
over, and down on the other side with her; 
and when he put her down he was not even 
breathing fast from carrying her. 

“You’ve grown to be a strong, stout lad, and 
there ’s no doubt about that,” said his mother. 

After that they went along again until they 
came to the house with the light in it, and when 
they got up close to it, the mother began to 
shake and tremble. 

“ Come away ! Come away !” said she. “This 
is a Troll’s house, and it would be a bad 
thing for us if he were to get hold of us.” 

But the lad was not one whit afraid. He 
knocked at the door, and then, before any one 
could answer the knock, he opened the door 
and stepped inside, dragging his mother with 
him. 

There, on a great settle by the fire, sat a 
man at least twenty feet high, and it was easy 
enough to tell by the look of him that he was 
a Troll. 

The mother almost fainted with terror, but 
141 


THE BLUE BELT 


the lad spoke up as bold as bold could be, for 
he felt the strength inside of him and feared 
nobody. He told the Troll that he and his 
mother were footsore and weary, and he asked 
whether they might come in and rest a bit. 

The Troll told him he and his mother were 
welcome, and then he made the lad sit down 
and they talked of one thing and another, but 
the woman was so frightened she just crept 
into a corner and groaned every time the Troll 
looked at her. 

After a while the lad asked the Troll whether 
he could not give him and his mother a bite 
of supper, for they were hungry as well as 
weary. 

Yes, the Troll could do that, too. 

He went outside and came back with a whole 
load of wood in his arms, as much as two horses 
could haul. This he threw upon the fire and 
stirred it up into a blaze. 

And now the woman began to shake and 
shiver as though she would fall to pieces, for 
she thought for sure the Troll was making 
ready to cook her and her son for supper ; but 
142 


A NORSE TALE 


instead he brought in a whole ox and put it 
over the fire to roast. When it was done, he 
took out a great silver platter from the cup- 
board, and the platter was so large that when 
he put the ox on it, not any part of the ox hung 
over the edge. He also set out on the table 
knives and forks, each six feet long, and a great 
hogshead for a drinking cup. 

When all this was done, he said to the lad, 
“ Draw up and eat and drink as you are able.” 

The lad bade his mother come, too, but she 
would not, so he took up the knife and fork 
with no trouble at all to himself and cut a slice 
from the ox and carried it to her. After she 
had eaten, he lifted the hogshead down from 
the table, and then he carried her over to it 
and lowered her down into it so she could drink. 

He himself, after he had eaten, climbed to 
the edge of the hogshead and hung himself 
over into it head downward, and drank till 
he was satisfied. After a while the Troll said 
he might as well have a bite of supper himself. 
So he went to the table and ate all that was 
left of the ox — the meat and the bones and 
143 


THE BLUE BELT 


the horns and hoofs of it — and drained off all 
that was in the hogshead at one draught. 

Not long afterward it was time to go to bed, 
and the Troll did not know how to manage 
that. 

“There’s only the bed I sleep in, and a cra- 
dle,” said the Troll. 

But when the lad came to look at the cradle, 
it was as long and wide as any bed he had ever 
seen. 

“This will do for me,” said he. 

So it was settled that he should sleep in the 
cradle and his mother in the bed, though it 
was so enormous that she shook and shivered 
at the very thought of getting into it, and if 
she had had her choice, she would have stayed 
all night in the corner. 

After they were all settled, the lad thought 
to himself, “I’d best stay awake and listen 
how things go on through the night, for there’s 
no knowing what this Troll may intend to do 
to us before morning.” But he lay there very 
quiet and kept his eyes shut, and now and then he 
snored a bit, so the Troll thought he was asleep, 
144 


A NORSE TALE 


Presently the Troll began to talk to the 
woman. “Do you think that lad of yours is 
asleep ?” he asked of her. 

“He must be from the way he’s snoring,” 
she answered. 

“Then, listen,” said the Troll. “It has 
come into my head that you and I could live 
here very happily together if we could only 
get rid of him, for to tell you the truth I have 
no liking for the way he goes about things.” 

“I’m sure I don’t know how you can do 
anything with him,” said the woman, “for 
he seems to have grown very strong all of a 
sudden.” 

Oh, the Troll had a plan that would do for 
the lad. The next morning he would ask the 
woman and her son to stay there with him for 
a day or so, and she was to agree. Then some- 
time in the morning he would take the lad out 
to the quarry with him to get out some corner- 
stones, and once there, it would be easy enough 
in one way or another to send him down to 
the bottom of the quarry, and then roll a rock 
down on him and crush him. 


THE BLUE BELT 


To this plan the woman consented, and all 
the while they talked the boy lay there and 
listened, though he breathed with his mouth 
open as though he were still sleeping. 

The next day the woman got up early and 
cooked breakfast for them, and after they had 
all eaten, the Troll said, wouldn’t she stay 
there and keep house for him for a day or so. 

“ There ’s nothing to take me elsewhere,” 
answered the woman. 

Not long after, the Troll took up a crowbar 
that he kept over in a corner. 

“I’ll just go over to the quarry and get out 
a few cornerstones while you are cooking the 
dinner,” said he. He then asked the lad 
whether he would go along with him. 

“Yes, and gladly,” answered the lad ; so 
the two set out together. 

They worked for awhile at the top of the 
quarry, and then the Troll told the lad to 
go down to the bottom of it and see whether 
there were any loose stones lying around down 
there. 

The lad was willing to do that, too. He 
146 


A NORSE TALE 


went on down toward the bottom of the quarry. 
No sooner was he gone than the Troll set to 
work with his crowbar. He worked so hard 
that he groaned and sweated, and presently 
he loosened a whole crag and sent it rolling 
down on the boy. 

But the lad saw it coming and was ready 
for it. He put out his hands and stopped it 
until he could get out of the way, and then 
he let it roll on to the bottom. After that he 
went back to where the Troll was. 

“I couldn’t find any loose rocks down there 
so now do you go down and look for some,” 
he said. 

The Troll was frightened when he saw the 
lad had come back to the top of the quarry un- 
harmed. He thought he would certainly have 
been crushed under the crag that had rolled 
down on him. Neither did the Troll want to go 
down there below, but he had to. 

Then the lad took up the crowbar and pried 
out another crag, and it rolled down on the 
Troll and hurt him so that he could not move, 
but lay where he was groaning. The boy had 
147 


THE BLUE BELT 

to go down and roll the crag off him and pick 
him up and carry him back to the house, and 
all the while the Troll kept on groaning most 
terribly. When they got home, the lad put 
the Troll to bed and he was hurt so badly he 
had to lie there. 

That night the lad stayed awake again and 
listened, and presently the Troll and the woman 
began to talk things over again. 

“I tell you he’s a dangerous one,” said the 
woman, “and I’m sure I don’t see how you’re 
ever to get rid of him.” 

“I have a brother,” said the Troll, “and 
he has a walled-in garden, and in the garden 
are twelve fierce lions. If we could find some 
excuse for getting the lad there, they would 
very quickly tear him to pieces.” 

“Then I will find the excuse,” said the 
woman. “To-morrow I will say that I am very 
poorly, and that nothing in the world will cure 
me except a few drops of lions’ milk. Then 
you must tell about the lions in your brother’s 
garden, and I’ll beg and entreat him until 
he’ll agree to go off there to get some for me.” 

148 


A NORSE TALE 


This plan pleased the Troll, and it was set- 
tled between them that as she said so they 
would do. 

The next morning the woman did not get up 
to cook the breakfast, but lay in bed, moaning. 

“What ails you, mother ?” asked the lad. 

“Oh I’m ill. I’m very ill,” replied the 
woman. 

“I’m sorry for that,” said her son, “but 
I’m sure I don’t know what would make you 
better.” 

“If I had but a few drops of lions’ milk, 
that would cure me,” groaned the woman. 

“That’s a hard thing to get,” replied the 
lad ; “and if that’s the only thing to cure you, 
I fear you’ll be ailing a long time.” 

Then the Troll spoke up and said he knew 
where such milk was to be had. “But it takes 
a brave heart and a strong arm to get it, and 
that’s the truth,” said the Troll. He then 
told about his brother’s walled-in garden and 
the lions that were in it, and he said that if 
any one had the courage to go for it, ’t was there 
the milk was to be had. 


149 


THE BLUE BELT 


The woman at once began to beg and en- 
treat the lad to go and get it for her. He did 
not say no. “Though,” said he, “I think 
it is but little good the milk will do you, and 
that ’s the truth.” 

The Troll told him exactly where the gar- 
den was, and he gave him a key to the gate 
of it, so he would have no trouble in getting 
in. The lad took the key and a milking pail, and 
off he set. The Troll and the woman had no 
other thought than that that was the end of him. 

On and on he went, one foot before the other, 
and after a while he came to the garden, and 
then he took out the key and unlocked the 
door and stepped inside. 

No sooner had he done this than he saw 
twelve great lions, each one fiercer and larger 
than the other, and they came at him ramp- 
ing and roaring so that he was almost deaf- 
ened by the noise of it, and their teeth were 
terrible to see. 

But the lad was no whit frightened. He 
caught hold of the foremost lion, and tore it 
in two, and scattered it in pieces all about him. 

150 


A NORSE TALE 


When the other lions saw that, all the fierce- 
ness went out of them, and they crawled to 
his feet, and fawned on him, and became as 
tame as dogs. 

The lad patted them, and then he milked 
a few drops into the milk pail and started for 
home with it, but the lions would not be left 
behind. They followed after him close at his 
heels, as dogs follow their master. 

After a while he came within sight of the 
Troll’s house, and at that very moment the 
woman happened to be looking out of the win- 
dow, and there she saw him coming along, with 
the eleven lions following after him. Then she 
was terribly frightened, and she called to the 
Troll, and together they barred all the doors and 
windows, so the lions could not get in at them. 

The lad came to the door and tried to open 
it, and when he found it was fastened, he called 
to them to let him in, but they would not 
until he made the lions lie down outside, and 
promised they should stay there. 

When he went in, there stood his mother 
shaking and trembling. 

151 


THE BLUE BELT 


“Well, mother, here is the lions’ milk,” he 
said, “and Fm sure I hope it may make you 
well again.” 

The woman was obliged to drink the milk, 
though she did not want it. 

That night the Troll and she began talk- 
ing together after they thought the lad was 
sleeping. But he was wide awake and heard 
all they said between them, though they spoke 
in whispers. 

“This son of yours is so strong I don’t see how 
we’re ever to get rid of him,” said the Troll. 

"Well, if you don’t know, I’m sure I don’t,” 
replied the woman. 

"There’s one other plan we might try,” 
said the Troll. “ I have two more brothers 
who live not so very far away from here in a 
castle, and they are very strong and terrible. 
Round about the castle is an orchard that bears 
apples all the year round, and any one who so 
much as tastes of those apples at once falls into 
a deep sleep, and nothing can waken him till 
he has had his sleep out, and the sleep lasts 
for three days and three nights. If we could 
152 


A NORSE TALE 


but send the lad there after the apples, he 
would be sure to eat of them, and fall asleep, 
and then my brothers would find him there 
and tear him to pieces for they come out every 
day to walk in the garden and so would be 
sure to find him. ,, 

“If that is the way of it, we’ve no need to 
worry,” said the woman, “for I’ll find a way 
to send him there.” 

The next day the woman said she still was 
not able to get up. She lay there in the bed, 
moaning and groaning. 

“ I ’m sorry to see you so ailing, mother, but 
I ’m sure I don’t know what to do about it.” 

“If I but had some apples from the orchard 
that belongs to the Troll’s brothers, I’d be 
well enough,” said the woman, “and if you 
were but the good son you pretend to be, I know 
you’d fetch them for me.” 

“I’ll fetch you the apples soon enough,” 
replied her son. “No trouble about that. 
Though to tell you the truth, I doubt whether 
they ’ll cure you.” 

The lad made no more ado about it, but off 
I S3 


THE BLUE BELT 


he set for the orchard, and the eleven lions 
followed close at his heels. 

When he came to where the apple trees were, 
he climbed up into the one that bore the finest 
fruit, and ate and ate until he could eat no 
more. Then he came down and stretched 
himself out on the soft grass and fell into a 
deep sleep. 

The eleven lions gathered about him and 
guarded him while he slept. 

Now not long after this, the Troll’s two 
brothers came out into the orchard for a stroll, 
and there, the first thing they saw, was the 
lad lying under the finest of the apple trees 
fast asleep, with the apples lying all about him 
and one in his hand. 

At that sight they flew into a fine rage, and 
they turned themselves into fierce man-eating 
steeds, and rushed at him to destroy him. 

But before they had a chance even so much 
as to touch him, the eleven lions rose up and 
rushed at the two steeds and fought them, and 
tore them into small pieces and scattered them 
around like dung. 

1 54 


A NORSE TALE 


At the end of three days and three nights, 
the lad awoke and looked about him, and there 
were the lions still guarding him, but the ground 
was all dug up as though a battle had been 
fought there, and there were deep hoof marks, 
and pieces of the steeds were scattered all about 
the orchard. The lad looked and wondered, 
and he could not think what had been happening, 
but he was not a bit afraid, and he thought 
as long as he was there, he might as well go and 
have a look at the castle. 

When he drew near to it, he saw a most beau- 
tiful maiden looking out from one of the win- 
dows, and at sight of her the lad’s heart 
melted within him for love of her, she was so 
beautiful. 

“It is lucky for you that you had your lions 
with you just now,” said the maiden. 

“Why is that ?” asked the lad. 

Then the maiden told him how the Trolls 
had gone out into the orchard a bit ago, when 
he was asleep under the apple tree, and how 
they had changed themselves into man-eating 
steeds and come at him to destroy him, and 
155 


THE BLUE BELL 


how the lions had then risen up and torn the 
Trolls to pieces. 

The lad listened to her until she had made 
an end of the story, and then he said, “That 
is as it should be, and it was to guard me that 
I brought them hither.” Then he asked the 
maiden whether he might come in, and at first 
she would not let him, because she was afraid 
of the lions, but when he promised they should 
not harm her, but would lie down at the thresh- 
old as quiet as house cats, she opened the door 
to him. 

The lad looked about him, and it seemed 
to him the castle was but a rough place for 
such a beauty to live in. 

“I wonder,” said he, “that such a one as 
you should be living here with no better com- 
pany than those two Trolls were.” 

“It is not of my own will I am living here,” 
replied the maiden. Then she told him she 
was the daughter of the King of Arabia, and 
that she had been walking in her father’s gar- 
den one day, and the Trolls had appeared out 
of a forest near by, and carried her away with 
I S6 


A NORSE TALE 


them, and she had been well-nigh scared out 
of her wits by it. But they had done her no 
harm, though they had kept her a prisoner 
here, and they intended that after a while 
one or other of them should take her as a wife. 
Then she asked the lad who he was, and where 
he had come from, and he told her all about it. 

“You may be the son of a beggar, but all 
the same it seems to me you are something of 
a hero,” said the Princess, “and now we will 
see whether I am right about it.” 

Then she led him into another room and 
showed him where two great swords were hang- 
ing on the wall. 

“Those are the Trolls’ swords,” said the 
Princess, “and they are very heavy to handle. 
Now try whether you can lift one of them down 
from the wall, though I doubt whether you 
are strong enough.” 

“That is an easy task you are setting me,” 
said the lad. He took a chair and set it on 
a table, and another chair on top of that ; and 
then he climbed up on them, for the swords 
were so high on the wall that only in that way 
157 


THE BLUE BELT 


could he reach the place where they were hang- 
ing. Then he reached out and set one finger 
under the point of one of the swords, and tossed 
it up in the air and caught it, and he leaped 
down and flourished the sword about him, so 
that it whistled. 

“Yes, I can see that you are indeed a hero,” 
said the Princess ; “ so now tell me : shall I 
go home to my father, the King of Arabia, or 
shall I stay here and be your wife ?” 

It did not take the lad long to make his choice 
in that matter. 

“You shall stay here and be my wife,” said 
he, “for indeed I love you so dearly that if I 
cannot marry you, then I shall never marry 
any one.” 

So the Princess stayed on in the castle, and 
she and the lad were very happy together. 

But after some time had passed, the Prin- 
cess said she ought to go back and see her 
father, for he did not know what had become 
of her, and no doubt he had grieved bitterly, 
thinking she was dead. 

This reminded the lad that he had promised 
158 


A NORSE TALE 


to take back the apples to his mother, and 
it was agreed between them that she should 
go back to Arabia, and that he should take 
the apples to his mother, and that then he 
should come after her to her father’s kingdom 
and claim her. 

So the next day they set out, and the Prin- 
cess went to the nearest seaport, and hired a 
vessel with some of the jewels she wore, and 
sailed back to Arabia. But the lad set out 
for the Troll’s house with the bosom of his 
shirt full of apples, and the lions following close 
at his heels. 

When he came near the Troll’s house, his 
mother was looking out of the window, and 
no sooner did she see him than she began to 
shake and shiver. 

“ There is my son back again,” said she, 
“and indeed I feel terribly frightened.” 

“He’s a strong one, and that’s the truth,” 
said the Troll, “and I wish we could find out 
what makes him so, for it ’s not in nature for 
any one to be as strong as he is.” 

“Perhaps there is indeed some secret about 
159 


THE BLUE BELT 

it,” said the woman, “and if there is, I may 
be able in some way to wheedle it out of him. 
At least I can do no better then try.” 

So she made haste to open the door and wel- 
come the lad back to his home again, but the 
lions had to stay outside, because both she 
and the Troll were afraid of them. 

“And did you get the apples?” she asked 
of him. 

Yes, he had the apples. “And I hope they ’ll 
cure you, mother,” said he, “though I think 
you have little need of them, for I never saw 
you looking better.” 

“Oh I ’m still very ailing,” said she, “and 
I’ll eat the apples after a bit; but first do 
you sit down and have a bite of the good supper 
I ’ve cooked for you.” 

So the lad sat down, and the mother gave 
him his supper, and while he ate it, she sat 
beside him and talked to him. 

“You’re a strong one,” said she, “and 
there ’s no doubt about that.” 

“Strong enough,” replied her son, still eating. 

“And how did it all come about ?” asked 
160 


A NORSE TALE 


the woman. “For only a while ago you were 
a weakling, and it was I who had to help you 
over the rough places.” 

“Now I’ll tell you ,” said the lad, for he was 
sleepy from eating so much supper and scarce 
knew what he was saying. “It’s all because 
of that blue belt that we saw at the crossroads 
and that I wanted to pick up, and you for- 
bade me.” 

Then he told his mother the whole story, 
and the woman sat and listened, and the Troll 
listened, too, only he was hidden behind a door 
and the lad did not see him. 

“And that’s the way the strength came to 
me,” said the lad, when he had made an end 
of the telling. . 

“And have you the belt on you now?” 
asked the woman. 

“Yes, I have,” said the lad, and he opened 
his shirt and showed it to her. 

Then, before he could stop her, the woman 
caught hold of the belt and tore it from him, 
and at once all his strength went out of him, 
so that he was helpless before her. 

161 


THE BLUE BELT 


Then the Troll came from behind the door, 
and he and the woman made merry together 
because the lad was so helpless, and they talked 
together about what they should do with the 
lad to get rid of him. The woman was for 
taking him out to a high cliff and throwing 
him over, but the Troll said no, that was not 
bad enough for him. In the end the Troll 
put out the lad’s eyes, and set him adrift in 
a boat on the sea, and he and the woman 
thought that was the end of him. 

But it was not, for the lions were faithful, 
and they had followed after, and when they 
saw the boat drifting away, they swam after 
it and caught the edge of the boat with their 
teeth, and brought it ashore on an island. 

There they and the lad lived, and the lions 
took care of him, for the lad was helpless be- 
cause he was blind. The lions found a cave 
for him to live in and caught birds and wild 
animals for him to eat, and the lad picked the 
feathers off the birds, and took the skins of the 
animals, and made a soft bed for himself, and 
always, while some of the lions were out hunt- 
162 


A NORSE TALE 


in g, others stayed with him to guard him and 
see that no harm came to him. 

One day the oldest lion went out hunting, 
and he went a long way before he found any- 
thing. Then, after a while, he started up a 
hare, and it was blind. The lion chased the 
hare, and it went leaping along, and presently, 
because it was blind, it fell into a pool of water. 
As soon as the water touched its eyes, it could 
see again, and it scrambled out from the pool 
and escaped the lion. 

The lion went back to where the lad was 
sitting in his cave, and took hold of his clothes, 
and began to pull at them. The lad did not 
know what the lion wanted of him, but he 
got up and allowed the lion to lead him. It 
led him on and on, until they came to the edge 
of the pool, and then the lion loosed his cloth- 
ing and gave the lad such a push that he fell 
head over heels into the water. No sooner did 
the water touch his eyes than the blindness was 
all gone, and he could see again even better than 
before. 

Then the lad rejoiced greatly, and he got 
163 


THE BLUE BELL 


into the boat and went back to the place where 
the Troll lived, and the lions swam after. 

After he landed, he crept up toward the 
house very carefully, so that no one saw him, 
and peeped in at the door. The woman was 
busy at the dough-trough making up bread, 
and her back was toward him, and there was 
the blue belt hanging from a nail in the wall. 

The lad crept in and seized it and put it 
around him, and then he began to shout and 
stamp about, and call to the woman and the 
Troll to come and catch hold of him. 

The woman turned about, and when she 
saw the lad was there and the belt gone 
from the wall, she knew what had happened. 
She was terribly frightened, and began to coax 
and cajole him, and beg him to let her have 
the belt again. 

But the lad would not listen to her. He 
threw open the door and called in the lions, 
and they soon made an end of her. Then they 
ran out and found the Troll, too, and tore him 
to pieces in spite of all his cries and prayers 
for mercy. 


164 


A NORSE TALE 


That was the end of them, and after that 
the lad was ready to set out for Arabia to claim 
the Princess as his wife, but he would not let 
the lions go with him for there was no need 
for them in that business. 

The lad journeyed on and on, and after a 
while he came to Arabia, and there he heard 
a story of how the daughter of the King of that 
country had been stolen away by Trolls, and 
kept a prisoner for a long time but now she 
was home, and the King was so glad to have 
her back he said he would never let her leave 
him again. He had hidden her away, no one 
knew where, and when any one came to ask her 
hand in marriage the King said no one might 
have her but he who could find her, and if any 
one tried to find her and failed, he should have 
his head cut off. 

Many kings and princes had lost their lives 
in this manner. 

The lad listened and listened to everything 
that was said, and he thought to himself that 
he would be the next to have a try at finding the 
Princess, but he said nothing about it to any one. 
165 


THE BLUE BELT 


One day the lad met a man who was sell- 
ing white bearskins, and the lad stopped him 
and began talking to him. “I will tell you what 
we will do,” said he. “I will put on one of 
those bearskins, and then do you fasten a collar 
around my neck and lead me through the town 
by a chain, and I will dance and perform 
tricks.” 

This plan pleased the man, and he readily 
agreed to it ; so the lad put on the bearskin, and 
the man led him about by a chain, and every- 
where the lad danced and performed in such a 
wonderful way that the people were amazed. 

After a while it came to the King’s ears that 
such a beast was in the town, and that not 
only could it dance and perform tricks, but it 
could understand everything that was said to it. 

The King became very curious to see the 
animal, and he sent word for the man to come 
to the palace and bring the bear with him. 

The man at once set out for the palace, and 
on the way he said to the lad, “Now you must 
do your best, for if you can succeed in pleasing 
the King, he will be sure to pay us well.” 


A NORSE TALE 


“Yes,” said the lad, “but when we come 
to the palace, you must warn everybody that 
they are not to laugh at me, for if the people 
there laugh at me, I may become so enraged 
that I will tear them to pieces before I know 
what I am doing.” 

So as soon as the man came to the palace, 
he said that no one was to laugh at the bear, 
whatever happened, and the King promised 
that no one should. 

Then the lad began to perform his tricks, 
but in the very midst of things one of the maids 
began to laugh, and at once the pretended 
bear flew at her and tore her to pieces before 
any one could stop him. 

The man was terrified, but the King said, 
“It does not matter; she was only a maid, 
after all.” 

After that the King said the man and the 
bear must spend the night at the castle. The 
man might sleep in the kitchen, but the bear 
should stay in the little room that opened out 
from the King’s own chamber. The man 
had nothing to sleep on but hard boards, but 
167 


THE BLUE BELT 


the bear was given a bed made of feathers and 
soft cushions to lay his head on. 

That night, when all the palace was still, 
and no one awake to see him, the King came 
to the room where the pretended bear was 
lying, and roused him and bade him come 
with him, for the King had a mind to show 
the bear to his daughter, and have her see the 
tricks and the dancing. 

The King led the pretended bear upstairs 
and downstairs, and through cellars and long 
galleries and around corners, and all the while 
the lad kept his eyes open, and watched care- 
fully just where they were going, so that he 
might know how to come the next time. 

After a while, the King still leading him, 
they came out on a long pier with the water 
washing about it. Here the King pulled and 
pushed at different posts and wooden pegs, 
and all the while the lad watched him care- 
fully. Presently a little house came floating, 
floating across the water until it lay close up 
against the pier, and then the King took out 
a bunch of keys and unlocked the door and 
1 68 



When she saw the bear she cried aloud with terror. 
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A NORSE TALE 


led the bear inside, and there, in a little golden 
room, sat the beautiful Princess. 

The Princess started up when the King en- 
tered, and when she saw the bear she cried 
aloud with terror. But the King bade her 
not to fear it, for it was a trained bear, and 
there was no danger from it unless some one 
laughed at it. 

The Princess promised she would not laugh, 
and then the King bade the bear perform its 
tricks. All went well until the Princess’ wait- 
ing-maid quite forgot the warning the King 
had given, and began to laugh. At once the 
pretended bear flew at her and tore her in 
pieces. 

The Princess screamed, but the King said, 
“Why should you be troubled? It was her 
own fault, for I warned her. Besides, she 
was nothing but a waiting-maid.” 

Then he said he would leave the bear there 
until morning, for he had no mind to lead it 
back through all those galleries and cellars 
and windings at that time of night. 

The Princess was very unwilling to have 
169 


THE BLUE BELT 


the beast left there, and so she told the King, 
but while she and her father were talking, 
the bear curled down in the corner and pre- 
tended to go to sleep. So then the Princess 
agreed that it might stay there, but she made 
the King promise to come back and get it the 
first thing in the morning. 

Then the King went away, locking the door 
behind him, and as soon as he had gone, the 
bear rose up and came over to the Princess, 
and begged her to undo his collar. The Prin- 
cess was like to die of terror at this, but the 
bear spoke so gently and pleaded with her so 
piteously that at last she took courage and 
felt in among his fur and unfastened the 
collar. 

At once the lad threw off the bear skin, and 
there the Princess saw her own dear husband 
standing before her. Then there was great 
joy between them, and the lad told the Prin- 
cess all that had happened to him since they 
had parted, and they spent the night together 
very happily. 

But at earliest dawn the lad put on the bear- 
170 


A NORSE TALE 


skin again, and made the Princess fasten the 
collar, for so he would have it, and when the 
King came again, there was the bear still 
slumbering in his corner, and the Princess 
asleep among her pillows. 

The King took hold of the chain that was 
fastened to the bear’s collar, and made it get 
up and follow, and he led it out of the house 
to the pier. Then he pulled and pushed at the 
posts and pivots, and the little house floated 
away across the water, to some place where 
no one could see it. After that the King led 
the bear back to its master, and gave the man a 
handful of gold as a reward, and bade him be 
off with it. 

As soon as the man and the lad were back 
where they lived, the lad made him undo the 
collar, and he took off the bearskin. Then it 
was not long before he was back at the palace 
and asking to see the King, for he said he had 
come there to have a hunt for the Princess. 

When the King saw the lad he had pity on 
him because he was so young and handsome. 

- “This is a very foolish thing that you would 
171 


THE BLUE BELT 


do,” said he. “Do you not know how many 
kings and nobles have lost their lives in search- 
ing for the Princess ? Why should you wish 
to perish also ?” 

But the lad would not listen to him. Hunt 
for the Princess he must and would. 

“Very well,” said the King at last. “Since 
your heart is set on it, you must go your own 
way, but remember you will be allowed only 
twenty-four hours in which to find her.” 

Very well ! That suited the lad well enough. 

Now there were many pretty girls in the 
palace, and music and dancing, and the lad 
joined in and danced and laughed with the 
best of them. He amused himself all day, 
and at last only one hour was left of all the 
twenty-four in which he was to search for 
the Princess. 

“There!” said the King. “Now you have 
danced your life away, and it is time for the 
headsman.” 

“Not so,” said the lad, “for I have still 
one hour left, and now I will go and look for 
the Princess.” 


172 


A NORSE TALE 


With that he set out, and the King and the 
court were obliged to follow. The lad went 
upstairs and downstairs, through cellars and 
along galleries, along the way the King had led 
him the night before, and all the while the 
King kept saying, “This is not the way to go. 
You are all wrong, and you will never find her 
this way.” 

When they came out on the pier, the lad 
began pulling and pushing at posts and pivots, 
and the King did not dare to stop him. 

Presently the little house came floating up 
to the pier, and there were only two minutes 
left of all the twenty-four hours. 

“And now unlock the door,” cried the lad, 
“for within here sits the Princess.” 

The King took out his keys, and he fumbled 
and fumbled, and then he said he had no key 
there to unlock it. 

“Then if you have not, I have,” said the 
lad, and he raised his fist and with one blow 
the door was shattered and burst open, and 
he stepped inside, — and there was the Princess. 

Then she rose up and threw her arms about 

173 


THE BLUE BELT 


him and kissed him, and she told her father 
the lad was her own true love who had saved 
her from the Trolls and had come all this way 
to find her, and how if she might not have him 
for her husband, she would pine away with 
grief and longing. 

When the King heard this, he could no longer 
refuse to let her marry the lad, and indeed he 
was well enough pleased to have such a clever 
fellow for a son-in-law, for the lad soon told him 
of the trick he had played upon him. 

So he and the Princess were married and with 
much rejoicing, and the lad sent back to the 
Troll’s house for the lions that had been wait- 
ing for him there all this time. And when they 
came, they were given a whole park to roam 
about in, and the lad and the Princess lived 
happy forever after, with no misfortunes to 
trouble them. 


174 


THE DUTIFUL DAUGHTER 
A Korean Story 

There once lived in Korea a rich merchant and 
his wife who had no children, though they greatly 
desired them and prayed every day that a child 
might be granted them. 

They had been married sixteen years and were 
no longer young, when the wife had a wonderful 
dream. 

In her dream she walked in a garden full of 
beauteous fruits and flowers and singing birds, 
and as she walked, suddenly a star fell from 
heaven into her bosom. 

As soon as the wife awoke, she told this dream 
to her husband. “I feel assured,” said she, 
“that this dream can mean only one thing, and 
that is that heaven is about to send us a child, 
and that this child will be as a star for beauty 
and wonder and grace.” 

The merchant could hardly believe that this 
good fortune was really to be theirs ; but it was 
175 


THE DUTIFUL DAUGHTER 


indeed as the wife had said, and in due time a 
daughter was born to the couple, and this child 
was so beautiful that she was the wonder of all 
who saw her. 

The husband and wife, who had hoped for a 
son, were greatly disappointed that the long- 
wished-for child was only a daughter, but their 
disappointment was soon forgotten in the joy 
and pride they felt in her beauty and wit and 
goodness. 

Unhappily, while Sim Ching (for so the girl 
was named) was still a child, her mother died, 
and her father’s grief over the loss of his 
wife was so great that he became completely 
blind. He was now obliged to leave the most of 
his business affairs in the hands of his servants, 
and these servants were so dishonest and so idle 
that they either wasted or stole all his money. 
At last he became so poor that he could scarcely 
provide enough food to keep himself and his 
daughter alive. 

One day the merchant in his unhappiness 
wandered away from home, and being blind 
and so unable to tell where he was going, he fell 
176 


A KOREAN STORY 

into a deep pit out of which he was unable to 
climb. 

He feared he would die there, but presently, 
hearing footsteps on the road above, he called 
out loudly for help. 

The footsteps he heard were those of a greedy 
and dishonest priest who lived near by. Every 
day he passed by this way on his walks to and 
from the temple. 

Hearing the voice from the pit, the priest went 
to the edge of it and looking down into it, saw 
the blind man there below. 

“Who are you ?” asked the priest, “and how 
have you fallen into this pit ?” 

“I am a poor blind man, who was once a rich 
merchant,” replied the man in the pit. “I lost 
at once both my sight and my wealth, and be- 
cause I cannot see I fell into this pit from which 
I am not able to climb. For the sake of mercy 
reach down your hand and draw me out.” 

“Not so,” replied the priest. “That would 
be a foolish thing for me to do. Instead of 
drawing you out, I might myself be pulled in. 
But if you will promise to give me a hundred and 
1 77 


THE DUTIFUL DAUGHTER 


fifty bags of rice that I may offer them up in the 
temple, I will go and get a rope, and throw the 
end of it down to you, and by that means I may 
be able to pull you out without danger to either 
of us” 

The priest asked for the rice for the temple not 
because he really wished to make an offering of 
it, for indeed he meant to keep it for himself, 
but he thought, “ If this man was once rich, no 
doubt he must still know some wealthy people, 
and if he goes to them and asks for rice to offer 
up in the temple they will be more likely to give 
it to him than if he told them it was for me.” 

When the poor man heard that the priest 
demanded his promise of a hundred and fifty 
bags of rice before he would help him, he cried 
aloud with grief and wonder. 

‘‘How is it possible I should promise you such 
a thing as that ?” he cried. “None but a very 
rich man could make such a gift to the temple, 
and I am so poor that I cannot even provide 
food enough for myself and my daughter.” 

“Your daughter!” cried the priest. “You 
have then a daughter ?” 

178 


A KOREAN STORY 


“Yes ; and she is so beautiful that no one in 
the whole land can compare with her for fairness, 
and she is as good as she is beautiful, and as witty 
as she is good. ,, 

“Now listen!” said the priest. “If you will 
swear to give me the bags of rice, not only will I 
pull you out of the pit, but I foresee that because 
of this gift your daughter will be raised to the 
highest place in the land, and you yourself will 
receive great wealth and honor, and your sight 
will return to you.” 

This the priest said, not because he really fore- 
saw anything of the kind, but because he wished 
to tempt the blind man into making him the 
promise of the rice. 

The poor man still declared that he had no 
means of making such an offering, but the priest 
urged and begged and threatened, until at last 
the blind man gave his promise. 

The priest then ran and got a rope, and soon 
pulled the blind merchant out of the pit. 

“Now remember!” said he. “Exactly a 
month from now I will send my servants for 
the rice, and you must in some way have it 
179 


THE DUTIFUL DAUGHTER 


ready, whether you beg or borrow or steal it, 
and if you do not, you shall receive a good 
beating for breaking your bargain with me, and 
be thrown into a prison that is worse than any 
pit” 

The priest then went on to the temple, while 
the blind man returned home, very sad and sor- 
rowful. 

As soon as he entered the door, his daughter 
saw by his look that something unfortunate had 
happened and begged him to tell her what it was. 

At first he would not say because he feared to 
frighten her, but she asked him so many ques- 
tions that at last he was obliged to tell her the 
whole story. 

Sim Ching was indeed terrified when she heard 
what her father had promised the priest. 

“Alas! Alas!” she cried. “How can we 
possibly get the rice ready for him ? You know 
it is only by the kindness of the neighbors that 
we have the handful that I have cooked for our 
dinner to-day.” 

The poor man began to weep. “What you 
say is true,” he cried. “Better that I should 
180 


KOREAN STORY 


have died in the pit than be thrown into prison 
as will surely happen to me if I cannot give the 
priest the hundred and fifty bags that I promised 
him. ,, 

The blind man now set out to beg, telling every 
one his sad story and asking them to help him 
to collect the rice, but the people of the village 
were themselves poor and had no more than 
enough food for their own families. 

Time slipped by, until at last the day arrived 
when the priest’s servants were to come to 
demand the rice, and the blind man had not yet 
been able to get together even one bagful of 
rice, let alone a hundred and fifty. 

He and his daughter sat together very sorrow- 
ful, and now and then the blind man bemoaned 
himself as he thought of how he was to be beaten 
and thrown into prison, for he had now learned 
enough about the priest to know that he could 
expect no mercy from one as cruel and greedy 
as he. 

Now there lived in another city, not far away, 
a very rich merchant who owned many ships that 
traded in foreign lands. This merchant had 
181 


THE DUTIFUL DAUGHTER 


become so proud of his wealth and his power that 
he called himself the Prince of the Sea, and so it 
was that he obliged others to address him. This 
greatly offended a powerful Water Spirit who 
lived under the sea over which the ships of the 
merchant sailed. And now, in order to punish 
the merchant, the Water Spirit sent storms down 
upon the ships. Many were destroyed, and 
others were driven on to reefs, or back to the 
ports they sailed from. So many misfortunes 
overtook the vessels that sailors became afraid 
to sail on them, and the merchant began to 
fear he would be ruined. 

In his trouble he sent for a number of wise 
men and magicians and asked them why he was 
now so unlucky, and what he could do to bring 
back good fortune. 

The wise men and magicians studied their 
books and consulted together for a long time, 
and then they came to the merchant and said, 
“We have found why you are so unlucky. Your 
pride has offended a powerful Water Spirit, and 
it is he who is wrecking your ships or driving 
them back into port. There is only one way in 
182 


A KOREAN STORY 


which to turn aside his anger. If a young and 
beautiful maiden can be found who will willingly 
offer herself as a sacrifice to him, then he will 
be satisfied and will punish you no further. 
Otherwise he will certainly destroy every vessel 
you send out, and so in the end you will be 
ruined/’ 

When the merchant heard this, he was in de- 
spair. “Now indeed there is no hope for me,” 
he cried, “for I am very sure there is not, in the 
whole of Korea, a maiden who would be willing 
to be sacrificed to this Water Spirit, however 
great the reward I might offer. For indeed of 
what use would any reward be to her, if in order 
to gain it she must be drowned in the sea.” 

However, his head steward, who had charge of 
his affairs, begged him at least to send out a proc- 
lamation and to offer a reward to the family 
of any maiden who would consent to the sac- 
rifice. “ It may be that such a one will be 
found,” said he; — “some one who values the 
fortunes of her parents even above her own life.” 

The merchant finally agreed to the wishes of 
his steward, and messengers were sent forth to 
183 


THE DUTIFUL DAUGHTER 


read the proclamation aloud in every city, town 
and village in the country. They went this way 
and that, East, West, North and South, and 
finally one of them came to the place where the 
blind man and his daughter lived. The day the 
messenger came to the village was the very day 
when the servants of the wicked priest were to 
come and demand the hundred and fifty bags of 
rice from the blind man. 

The merchant’s messenger took his stand 
not far from the blind man’s house, and from 
there he read aloud the proclamation as to the 
sacrifice and the reward that would be paid to 
the parents of any maiden who would be willing 
to be thrown to the Water Spirit. 

The people of the village gathered about him 
in a great crowd to listen, but after they had 
heard what he said, they began to make a great 
noise, with cries and laughter. 

“Some parents there may be,” they cried, 
“who would be wicked enough to sacrifice their 
daughters for the sake of the reward, but what 
girl would ever go willingly to such a fate ; and 
the messenger himself tells us that unless the 
184 


A KOREAN STORY 

maiden went willingly, the sacrifice would be 
useless/’ 

Sim Ching heard the noise outside, the voice 
of the messenger, and the laughter of the crowd, 
and as she was of a very curious nature, she 
went to the door to hear what was going 
on. 

The man was already turning away, and Sim 
Ching asked a woman who was standing near 
what the man had been saying. The woman 
told her, laughing as she spoke. “How could 
any one suppose that any maiden would consent 
to be thrown to this monster in order that her 
family might have the reward!” cried the 
woman. 

But Sim Ching ran after the man and caught 
him by the sleeve. 

“Wait!” cried she. “Do not go until you 
have told me something. You say your master 
will richly reward the family of any maiden who 
will willingly give herself to this Water Spirit. 
Would he give as much as a hundred and fifty 
bags of rice to such a family ?” 

“ That and more,” replied the messenger. 

185 


THE DUTIFUL DAUGHTER 


“My master is very rich, and the reward will be 
generous/’ 

“Then I will go with you and be the sacrifice,” 
said Sim Ching. “ Permit me only to go and bid 
farewell to my father, and then I will be ready.” 

The messenger was rejoiced that he had been 
able to secure the maiden for his master and 
gladly consented to wait until she had spoken 
with her father. 

But when Sim Ching went back into the house 
and told her father what she intended to do he 
was in despair. He wept aloud and rent his 
clothes. “ Never, never will I consent to such 
a sacrifice,” cried he. 

But his daughter comforted him. “Do you 
forget,” said she, “what the priest promised 
you ? Did he not tell you that if you offered up 
this rice to the temple, all would be well with us, 
and that I would be raised to the highest place 
in the kingdom ? Let us have faith and believe 
that the gods of the temple can save me at the 
last even though I be thrown into the sea.” 

As her father listened to her, he grew quieter, 
and at last gave his consent for her to go. 

1 86 


A KOREAN STORY 


The neighbors who had heard what she meant 
to do gathered about to bid her farewell and 
could not but weep for pity, even while they 
praised her for her dutifulness toward her father. 

Sim Ching at once set out with the messenger, 
who was in haste to bring her before his master. 
Indeed he feared that if she thought too long of 
what she had consented to do, she might repent 
of her bargain. 

When he reached the merchant’s house and 
told him he had found a maiden for the 
sacrifice, his master could scarcely believe him. 
“ Does she understand what is required of her, 
and is she willing ?” he asked. 

The messenger assured him that she under- 
stood perfectly and was rejoiced at the thought 
of securing the reward for her father. 

Sim Ching was now brought before the mer- 
chant, and when he saw her beauty and youth, 
and her modest, gentle air, he was filled with 
pity for her. He would even have commanded 
that she should be taken back again to her father, 
but to this Sim Ching would not consent. 

“No,” said she. “I have come here to do 
187 


THE DUTIFUL DAUGHTER 


a certain thing. I have promised, and I do not 
wish to break my word. All I ask is to be 
assured that the bags of rice will certainly be 
sent to my father, and that at once.” 

“Let it then be as you desire,” said the mer- 
chant. “And be assured that my part of the 
bargain shall be kept as faithfully as yours.” He 
then ordered that one hundred and fifty bags of 
rice should be loaded on as many mules and sent 
to the blind man at once, that Sim Ching might 
herself have the comfort of seeing them set forth. 

This was done, and after the train of mules had 
departed, Sim Ching was taken to a chamber 
where magnificent robes and veils and jewels 
had been laid ready for her. Her attendants 
dressed her and hung the jewels on her neck and 
arms, and when all was done, she was so beauti- 
ful that even the attendants wept to think she 
must be sacrificed. 

A barge had been made ready and hung about 
with garlands, and in it sat musicians to make 
sweet music while the rowers rowed to where the 
sacrifice was to be made. 

s And now Sim Ching would have been afraid, 
188 


A KOREAN STORY 


but she fixed her thoughts upon her father and 
on how he would now be saved from the cruelty 
of the priest, and then she became quite happy 
and was no longer frightened. 

When the barge came to the place under which 
the Water Spirit lived, Sim Ching leaned over 
the side of the boat and looked down into the 
water. It was very deep and green, and it seemed 
to her that beneath she could see shining walls 
and towers, as though of ’some great castle, and 
that the spirits of the water were beckoning to 
her to come. Lower and lower she leaned, until, 
as though drawn by some power beneath, she 
sank over the side of the vessel and down 
and down through the water until she was lost 
to the sight of those above her. 

Then the rowers took the barge back to the 
shore and told the merchant the sacrifice had 
been accepted. 

The merchant was glad that now again his 
ships might sail in safety ; but at the same 
time he felt pity for Sim Ching, believing she 
had been drowned. 

But such was not the case. After she had 
189 


THE DUTIFUL DAUGHTER 


sunk down and down through the waters for 
what seemed to her a long distance, she 
came to the land where the Water Spirit is 
king. All about her were things strange and 
beautiful. There were water weeds so tall they 
were like trees waving high above her, and through 
them, like birds, darted the shining fishes. There 
were water flowers of colors she had never seen 
before, and shining shells, and before her rose a 
castle made of mother of pearl and studded with 
precious stones that shone and glittered like stars 
in the light that came down through the water. 

While she was looking at it, the doors of the 
castle swung open, and a train of attendants 
came out to meet her. These attendants were 
all dressed in green, and many of them would 
have been very handsome except that they them- 
selves were green. Their faces, their hands, their 
hair, and eyes, — everything about them was 
green. 

They spoke to Sim Ching in a strange lan- 
guage, but soon she understood them and knew 
they had come to bring her before their King 
who was waiting for her. 

190 


A KOREAN STORY 


Sim Ching felt no doubt but that this King 
was the Water Spirit himself, and she was very 
much frightened, but still she did not hesitate, 
but went with them willingly, for it was for this 
purpose she had come hither. 

The attendants led her through one room 
after another, until they came to the place 
where the Water Spirit sat upon a crystal 
throne, and he, too, was green, but his crown 
was of gold, and his garments were set all over 
with pearls and precious stones. 

The King looked at Sim Ching kindly and 
bade her have no fear. “I intend you no harm,” 
said he, “and indeed I wished for no sacrifice. 
My only wish was to punish the rich merchant 
for his pride, and so it was that I set him a 
task that I thought impossible for him to 
perform. But because of your dutifulness and 
your love for your father, he has been able to 
make the sacrifice. Now you must stay here 
patiently for a year and teach the sea-maidens 
the ways of the world above, and at the end of 
that time you shall return to the earth, and 
receive the happiness you deserve.” 

191 


THE DUTIFUL DAUGHTER 


Sim Ching listened to him wondering, and 
when he had made an end of speaking, she 
gladly agreed to serve for a time in the palace 
and to teach the sea-people all she knew. So 
for a twelvemonth Sim Ching stayed there and 
was very happy, for though the ways and 
manners of the sea-people were strange to her, 
they themselves were kind and gentle, so that 
she soon lost all fear of them. 

At the end of the twelve months, the King 
sent for Sim Ching, and when she had come 
before him, he said, “Sim Ching, for a year 
you have served us both faithfully and well, 
and now the time has come for you to return 
to the upper world. But in that world there 
are many dangers, and you have no one to pro- 
tect you. I have, therefore, caused a great 
flower to be prepared for you. When you 
enter into this flower, the leaves will fold about 
you and hide you, so that none may suspect 
you are within it. The leaves will afford you 
food and drink as well as shelter. In this way 
you can live protected and in safety until fate 
sends you a husband to love and guard you.” 

192 



The King bade her step into the flower. She did so, and at 
once the leaves closed about her. Pa^e 193 

































9 





























A KOREAN STORY 


After speaking thus, the Water Spirit led 
Sim Ching into another room and there showed 
her the flower that he had caused to be pre- 
pared for her. This flower was very large and 
of a beautiful rose color, and the leaves were 
of some rich, thick substance that had a most 
delicious smell and was good to eat. The juice 
of the leaves also afforded a delicious drink. 
Sim Ching, as she examined it, knew not how 
to express her wonder and admiration. 

The King bade her step into the flower. She 
did so, and at once the leaves closed about her, 
so that she was completely hidden, and at the 
same time the most delightful music breathed 
softly from the flower. It now floated softly up 
and up, through the roof of the palace, and 
through the waters above, until it reached the 
surface of the sea. There it rested, rocking 
gently with the motion of the waves. 

Now it so happened that the place where the 
flower floated on the sea was not far from the 
palace of the young King of that country. 
The morning it arose through the waters, the 
King was looking from a window across the 
193 


THE DUTIFUL DAUGHTER 


sea toward a pleasure island where he sometimes 
went. Suddenly, between himself and the island, 
he saw something glittering in the sunlight out 
upon the waters. 

He could not make out what the object was, 
and he ordered that some of the castle servants 
should row out to it, see what it was, and if pos- 
sible bring it back with them. This was done 
and when the rowers returned, they brought the 
flower with them and carried it in to where the 
young King was awaiting them. 

When the King saw the flower, lie was filled with 
wonder and admiration. Never before had he 
seen such a blossom. He examined it on all sides 
and exclaimed over its size and beauty. 

“ It must be some magic,” said he, “ that has 
created such a flower. A room shall be built 
for it, and there I will keep it, and if indeed, it 
has been made by magic, as I suspect, it may be 
that in time some fruit will come from it that 
will be even more beautiful than the flower it- 
self.” 

The room that was now prepared for the 
flower was so magnificent that no other apart- 
194 


A KOREAN STORY 


ment in the palace could compare with it. The 
walls were of gold, overlaid with paintings and 
hung with silken embroidered hangings. The 
floors were set with precious stones. There 
were fountains, and couches heaped with soft 
cushions, and from the ceiling hung seven alabas- 
ter lamps that were kept burning both night 
and day. 

When the room was finished, the King 
caused the flower to be carefully carried into 
it and placed in the center upon a raised dais 
covered with embroidered velvet. After this 
no one was allowed to enter the room except 
himself, and he carried the key of it hung on 
a jeweled chain about his neck. Every day 
he spent long hours with the flower admiring 
its beauty, enjoying its delicious perfume, 
and listening to the delicate music that some- 
times breathed out from among its leaves. 

All the while Sim Ching lay hidden in the 
center of the flower without the King’s once 
suspecting it. All day the leaves were closed 
about her, and only at night did they open 
to allow her to come forth. 

195 


THE DUTIFUL DAUGHTER 


The first time they unfolded, she was very 
much surprised to find herself in a room of a 
palace, instead of out upon the sea as she had 
supposed. Wondering, she looked about her, 
and then she stepped from the flower and began, 
timidly, to examine the apartment to which 
she had been brought. The beauty of it de- 
lighted her. She rested among the soft cush- 
ions, and bathed in the fountains, and dressed 
her hair. But toward morning she reentered 
the flower, and the leaves closed about her so 
that she was again hidden from view. 

For some time life went on in this manner. 
All day Sim Ching slept in the flower, and 
only at night did she come forth, and as the 
King only visited the room in the daytime 
he never saw her, nor even guessed that a liv- 
ing maiden was inclosed by the leaves of the 
flower he admired so greatly. 

But it so happened that one night the King 
could not sleep, and he took a fancy to visit 
the flower and see it by the light of the 
lamps. He therefore made his way along 
the corridors,’ and fitting the key into the 
196 


A KOREAN STORY 

lock, he turned it without having made a 
sound. 

What was his surprise, when he opened the 
door, to see a maiden of surpassing beauty 
sitting beside a fountain and amusing herself 
by catching the water in her hands. 

When Sim Ching saw the King, she gave 
a cry, and would have run back into the flower 
to hide, but the King called to her gently, 
bidding her stay. 

“I will not harm you,” said he. “Do but 
tell me who you are and how you have come 
here. It must be you are some spirit or fairy, 
for no human being could be as beautiful as 
you.” 

“I am no spirit, nor am I a fairy,” answered 
Sim Ching, “but only the daughter of a poor 
blind beggar, and as to how I came here I 
know not. I was placed inside that flower 
by a Water Spirit, but who has brought the 
flower here, or why, I cannot tell.” 

The King then told her of how he had seen 
the flower floating on the sea, and how he had 
had it brought to the palace, and had ordered 
197 


THE DUTIFUL DAUGHTER 


this room to be built for it, and after he had 
made an end of speaking, Sim Ching told him 
her history from the time her father had be- 
come blind and fallen into the pit, to the hour 
when the Water Spirit had bade her enter the 
flower and the leaves had closed about her. 

The young King listened and wondered. 
“Yours is indeed a strange story,” said he, 
“and this mischievous priest shall be sought 
out and punished as he deserves. And yet 
it may be his promises shall all come true, and 
you shall indeed be exalted to the highest place 
in the kingdom.” 

He then told Sim Ching he loved her and 
desired nothing in the world so much as to 
make her his wife. 

To this Sim Ching joyfully consented for 
the young King was so handsome and gra- 
cious, and spoke so well and wisely, that she 
could not but love him with all her heart, even 
as he loved her. 

All night they sat and talked together, and 
in the morning he opened the door of the cham- 
ber and led her forth, and called the courtiers 

198 


A KOREAN STORY 


and nobles together, and told them she was 
to be his bride. 

Then there was great rejoicing, and every 
one who saw Sim Ching wondered at her 
beauty and loved her for her gentle and gra- 
cious manner. 

Soon after she and the King were married, 
and they loved each other so dearly that Sim 
Ching would have been perfectly happy ex- 
cept for the thought of her old father and his 
griefs and sorrows. 

Immediately after she was married, she sent 
messengers to the village where she had lived, 
bidding them find her father and bring him to 
her, but the old man had disappeared, and no 
one knew what had become of him. 

Then the Queen had a great feast prepared 
and sent word throughout the length and breadth 
of the Kingdom that all who were both poor and 
blind were bidden to the palace to eat of it. All 
would be welcome, and none should be turned 
away. 

Then from far and near the blind and poor 
came flocking to the palace, scores and hun- 
199 


THE DUTIFUL DAUGHTER 


dreds of them. The tables for the feast were 
laid in a great hall, and the young King and 
Queen sat on raised thrones at one end of it. 
All who came to the feast were obliged to pass 
before this throne before they might take their 
places at the table, and as each one passed, 
the Queen looked at him eagerly, hoping to 
recognize her father, but none of all the multi- 
tude was the one she sought. At last every one 
was seated ; the attendants were about to close 
the doors, when another beggar, the last of all, 
came stumbling into the hall. He was so feeble 
and so old that he could scarcely make his way 
to the throne, but no sooner did the Queen see 
him than she knew him as her father. 

Then she gave a great cry, and came down 
from the throne, and threw her arms about 
him, and wept over him. 

“It is I, oh, my father! It is thy daughter, 
Sim Ching,” she wept. 

Then her father knew her voice and cried 
aloud with joy. “Oh, my daughter, I had 
thought thee dead,” he cried, “and now thou 
art alive and I can feel thy arms about me.” 


200 


A KOREAN STORY 


As he spoke the tears of joy ran down his 
cheeks, and these tears washed away the mists 
of sorrow that had clouded his eyes and he 
found he could see again. 

Then there was great rejoicing, and the 
King called the old man father and made him 
welcome, and in due time he who had been 
blind and now could see was raised to great 
wealth and honor, and so the words of the 
priest, that he had spoken without believing, 
came true. 

But as for the priest himself, the King had 
him sought for, and when he was found, he 
was thrown into prison and punished as he 
deserved for his greed and cruelty. 


201 


THE OAT CAKE 
A Scotch Story 

One time the farmer’s wife made two oat 
cakes. She shaped them, and patted them 
and put them down in front of the fire to bake. 
“They will do for the good man’s dinner,” 
said she. 

Then said one cake to the other cake, “It 
is all very well for the woman to say that, 
but I have no wish to be eaten. I will wait 
until I am baked hard, and then I shall set 
out to see the world.” 

“That is a poor way to talk, brother,” re- 
plied the other. “Oat cakes were made to 
be eaten, and you should be proud to think 
the master himself is to have you for dinner.” 

“Master or no master, I have no wish to 
be eaten,” repeated the first oat cake. 

Not long after that, the farmer came home, 
and he was very hungry. First he ate the 
oat cake that wished to be eaten, and after 


202 


A SCOTCH STORY 


he had finished it, he stretched out his hand 
for the other, but it slipped through his fingers 
and away it rolled, out of the door and on down 
the road. 

It rolled along and rolled along until it came 
to a neat, tidy house with a thatched roof. 

“This looks like a good and proper place 
for me to stop,” said the oat cake, so it rolled 
on in through the doorway. 

There inside were a tailor and his two ap- 
prentices, all of them sitting cross-legged and 
sewing away; and the tailor’s wife stood by 
the fire, stirring the porridge. 

When the tailor and the boys saw the oat 
cake come rolling in across the floor so boldly, 
they were frightened, and jumped up and hid 
behind the woman. 

“Now out upon you! To be frightened 
by an oat cake ! ” cried the good wife. “Quick ! 
Catch hold of it and divide it among you, and 
I ’ll give you some milk to drink with it.” 

When the tailor and his apprentices heard 
this, they took courage and ran out and tried 
to catch the oat cake ; but it dodged them 
203 


THE OAT CAKE 


and rolled under the table and under the chairs, 
and while they were chasing it and the woman 
watching them, the porridge boiled over into 
the fire and was burned. 

But the oat cake escaped them, and rolled out 
through the door, and on down the road 
again. “I ’d better go a bit farther before 
I settle down for the night,” it thought to 
itself. 

Presently it came to a little small house. 
“I’ll try how it is in here,” said the oat cake, 
and in it rolled. 

There sat a weaver at his loom, and his wife 
was winding some yarn. 

“What’s that that just came in at the door ?” 
asked the weaver, for his eyesight was not 
very good. 

“It’s an oat cake !” said his wife staring. 

“Catch it woman! Catch it, before it rolls 
away again !” cried the weaver. 

The woman chased the oat cake up and down 
and round about, and the weaver left his work 
and joined in the chase, but the oat cake was 
too lively for them. Every time they thought 
204 


A SCOTCH STORY 


they had it, it slipped through their fingers 
as though it were buttered. 

“Throw your yarn over it and snare it,” 
cried the weaver. 

The woman threw her yarn over the oat 
cake, but the cake tangled up the yarn so that 
later on it took the woman a good two days to 
straighten it out again. But the oat cake 
escaped and rolled out and down the road. 

“That’s too lively a place for me to stay,” 
said the oat cake to itself. 

At the next place where the oat cake stopped, 
a woman was churning. 

“Oh, the dear little, pretty little oat cake!” 
cried she. “I have good thick cream to-day, 
and plenty of it, and the oat cake will taste 
good with it.” 

“But first you must catch me,” said the 
oat cake. 

It rolled round and round the churn, and 
the woman ran after it, and in the end she fell 
against the churn and upset it. 

While she was cleaning up the mess, the 
oat cake set out on further adventures. 


205 


THE OAT CAKE 


“So far I’ve found no place in the world 
where an oat cake can rest in peace and quiet,” 
said the cake. “But, there must be such 
a place somewhere, and if there is, I mean to 
find it.” 

Soon it came to a bit of a stream, with a mill 
beside it. 

The oat cake rolled into the mill, and there 
stood a miller at work, and he was all white 
with flour. “Oat cake and a bit of cheese 
taste well together,” said the miller. “The 
cheese I already have. Come in, come in and 
make the other half of the feast.” 

But the oat cake was frightened and rolled 
on out, and the miller never bothered his head 
further about it. 

The next place the oat cake stopped was 
at a smithy. The smith was busy beating 
out a horseshoe, but when he saw the oat cake 
he laid aside the shoe. 

“Welcome! Welcome! I like an oat cake 
and a drink of ale as well as the next man. 
Come in and let us feast together.” 

“Not I,” cried the oat cake, and away it 
206 


A SCOTCH STORY 


rolled in haste, and as the road was downhill 
now, it made good time. 

The smith ran after it, and when he found 
the cake was going too fast for him, he threw 
his hammer after it, and the hammer fell into 
a thicket, and the smith had a great time find- 
ing it. 

But the oat cake hid in a crack between 
two rocks, and lay there quiet until the smith 
had found his hammer and gone back to his 
smithy again grumbling. Then out it came and 
away it rolled, but it was getting tired now. 

“Maybe it would have been better if I had 
gone to rest in the good man’s stomach,” said 
the oat cake, “but here we go, and I have no 
mind to be eaten by the first stranger who takes 
a fancy to me, — no, nor by the second either.” 

In the next house the oat cake entered, the 
good wife was cooking supper, and her hus- 
band sat plaiting straw rope. 

“Look at that !” cried the woman. “You’re 
always asking me for oat cake, and there is 
one ready to your hand. Quick ! Quick ! Shut 
the door and catch it.” 


20 7 


THE OAT CAKE 


The man jumped up to shut the door, but 
he caught his foot in the rope he was plaiting 
and fell flat on the floor. The woman threw 
her porridge stick at the cake, but away it 
went and off down the road. 

“Now I’ll have to find some place to sleep,” 
said it to itself. “No knowing what will hap- 
pen if I lay me down by the roadside.” 

It saw an open door, and in it rolled. The 
good man of the house had just taken off his 
breeches, and the woman was tucking the 
children into bed. 

“Look! Look!” cried the woman. “There 
is an oat cake rolling in at the door, and no 
one coming after to claim it. Catch it be- 
fore it can get away again.” 

The good man jumped up and threw his 
breeches at it. They fell on the oat cake and 
almost smothered it, but it managed to roll 
out from under them and away it went, with 
the man and his wife in full chase after it, and 
the children crying after them. 

But the oat cake was too quick, even for 
the two of them. It outran them both, and 
208 



As soon as he saw the oat cake he was wide awake again in a 

moment. Page 209 




















































































































































A SCOTCH STORY 


the man and his wife had to go back home 
without it, the man with his bare legs, and 
the neighbors peeking out at him from be- 
hind their window curtains. 

By this time it was dark. “I'll have to 
hurry if I want to find a place to-night where I 
can sleep in quiet,” said the oat cake. 

So now it rolled along more briskly, and 
presently it came to a pasture, and it leaped 
and bounded across it at a great rate, for it 
was all downhill, and then suddenly — plunk ! 
— it fell down into a fox’s hole. 

The fox was at home and half asleep, but 
as soon as he saw the oat cake, he was wide 
awake again in a moment. The fox had had 
nothing to eat all day, and he did not stop to 
look twice at the oat cake, but bit it in half 
and swallowed it down in a trice and with no 
words about it. 

So the oat cake slept quiet after all its wan- 
derings, but it might as well have been eaten 
by the farmer in the first place. 


209 


THE DREAMER 
An English Story 

There once lived a man and his wife, named 
Peter and Kate, and they were so poor that 
they had scarcely enough bread to put in their 
mouths. They lived in a wretched, miserable 
hut, and in front of the hut was a river, and 
back of it a patch of ground and a gnarled old 
apple tree. 

One night when Peter was sleeping he dreamed 
a dream, and in this dream a tall old man dressed 
in gray, and with a long gray beard came to him 
and said, “ Peter, I know that you have had a 
hard life, and have neither grumbled nor com- 
plained, and now I have a mind to help you. 
Follow down the river until you come to a bridge. 
On the other side of the river you will see a 
town. Take up your stand on the bridge and 
wait there patiently. It may be that nothing 
will happen the first day, and it may be that 
nothing will happen the second day either, but 


210 


AN ENGLISH STORY 


if you do not lose courage, but still wait patiently, 
some time during the third day some one will 
come to you, and tell you something that will 
make your fortune for you.” 

In the morning, when Peter awoke, he told 
his dream to Kate, his wife. “It would be 
a curious thing if I should do as the old man 
told me and really become rich,” said he. 

“Nonsense!” answered his wife. “Dreams 
are nothing but foolishness. Do you go over 
to Neighbor Goodkin and see whether he has 
not some wood to be cut, so you can earn a 
few pence to buy meal for to-morrow.” 

So Peter did as his wife told him, and went 
over to his neighbor’s and worked there all day, 
and by evening he had almost forgotten his 
dream. 

But that night, as soon as he fell asleep, 
the old man appeared before him again. “Why 
have you not done as I told you, Peter?” said 
he. “Remember, good luck will not wait 
forever. To-morrow do you set out for the 
bridge and town I told you of, and believe, 
for it is the truth ; if you wait there for three 


21 1 


THE DREAMER 


days and make the best of what will then be 
told you you will become a rich man.” 

When Peter awoke the next morning, his 
first thought was to set out in search of the 
bridge and town of which the old man had 
told him, but still his wife dissuaded him. 

“Do not be so foolish,” said she. “Sit down 
and eat your breakfast and be thankful that 
you have it. You earned a few pence yester- 
day, and who knows but what you may be 
lucky enough to earn even more to-day.” 

So Peter did not set out on his journey in 
search of fortune that day either. 

But the next night for the third time the 
old man appeared before him, and now his 
look was stern and forbidding. “Thou fool!” 
said he. “Three times have I come to thee, 
and now I will come no more. Go to the 
bridge of which I have spoken and listen well 
to what is there said to thee. Otherwise want 
and poverty will still be thy portion, even as 
they have been heretofore.” 

With this the old man disappeared, and 
Peter awoke. And now it was of no use for 


212 


AN ENGLISH STORY 

his wife to scold and argue. As the old man 
had commanded so Peter would do. He only 
stopped to put some food in his stomach and 
more in his pockets, and off he set, one foot 
before another. 

For a long time Peter journeyed on down 
the river till he was both footsore and weary, 
and then he came to a bridge that crossed the 
stream, and on the other side was a town, and 
Peter felt almost sure this was the place to 
which the old man of his dreams had told him 
to come. 

So he took his stand on the fridge and stayed 
there all day. The passers4)y stared at him, 
and some of them spoke to him, but none of 
them said to him anything that might, by any 
chance, lead him on to fortune. All that day he 
waited on the bridge, and all of the day after, and 
by the time the third day came, he had eaten 
all the food he had brought with him except 
one hard, dry crust of bread. Then he began 
to wonder whether he were not a simpleton 
to be loitering there day after day, all because 
of a dream, when he might, perhaps, be earn- 
213 


THE DREAMER 

ing a few pennies at home in one way or 
another. 

Now just beyond this bridge there was a 
tailor’s shop, and the tailor who lived there 
was a very curious man. Ever since Peter 
had taken his stand on the bridge the tailor 
had been peeping out at him, and wondering 
why he was standing there, and what his busi- 
ness might be ; and the longer Peter stayed 
the more curious the tailor became. He 
fussed and he fidgeted, and along toward the 
afternoon of the third day he could bear it no 
longer, and he put aside his work and went 
out to the bridge to find out what he could 
about Peter and what he was doing there. 

When he came where Peter was he bade 
him good-day. 

“ Good-day,” answered Peter. 

“ Are you waiting here on the bridge for some 
one ?” asked the tailor. 

“I am and I am not,” replied Peter. 

“Now what may be the meaning of that?” 
asked the tailor. “How can you be waiting and 
still not be waiting all at one and the same time ? ” 
214 


AN ENGLISH STORY 


“I am waiting for some one — that is true” ; 
said Peter, “but I know not who he is nor 
whence he will come, nor, for the matter of 
that, whether any one will come at all.” And 
then he related to the tailor his dream, and 
how he had been told that if he waited on the 
bridge for three days some one would come 
along and tell him something that would make 
him rich for life. 

“Why, what a silly fellow you are,” said 
the tailor. “I, too, have dreamed dreams, 
but I have too much sense to pay any atten- 
tion to them. Only last week I dreamed three 
times that an old man came to me and told 
me to follow up along the bank of the river 
until I came to a hut where a man and his wife 
lived, — the man’s name was Peter, and his 
wife’s name was Kate. I was to go and dig 
among the roots of an apple tree back of this 
house, and there, buried among the roots of 
the tree, I would find a chest of golden money. 
That was what I dreamed. But did I go wan- 
dering off in search of such a place ? No, in- 
deed, I am not such a simpleton. I stick to 
215 


THE DREAMER 


my work, and I can manage to keep a warm 
roof over my head, and have plenty of food 
to eat, and when I am dressed in my best there 
is not one of the neighbors that looks half as 
fine as I do. No, no ; go back to where you 
belong and set to work, my man, and maybe 
you can earn something better than those mis- 
erable rags you are wearing now.” 

So said the tailor, and then he went back 
to his tailor’s bench and his sewing. 

But Peter stood and scratched his head. 
“A man named Peter, and his wife named 
Kate! And an apple tree behind the house!” 
said he. “Now it 5 s a strange thing if a for- 
tune *s been lying there under the roots of the 
apple tree all this while, and I had to come 
to this town and this bridge to hear about 
it!” 

So said Peter as he stood there on the bridge. 
But then, after he had scratched his head 
and thought a bit longer, he pulled his hat 
down over his ears and off he set for home. 
The farther he went, the more of a hurry he 
was in, and at last, when he came within sight 
216 


AN ENGLISH STORY 


of his house again, he was all out of breath 
with the haste he had made. 

He did not wait to go inside, but he bawled 
to his wife to fetch him a pick and shovel, and 
ran around the house to where the apple tree 
stood. 

His wife did not know what had happened 
to him. She thought he must have lost his 
wits, but she brought him the pick and shovel, 
and he began digging around about the roots 
of the apple tree. 

He had not dug for so very long when his 
pick struck something hard. He flung the pick 
aside and seized his spade, and presently he 
uncovered a great chest made of stout oak 
wood and bound about with iron. 

The chest was so heavy that he could not 
lift it out of the hole himself, and his wife had 
to help him. The chest was locked, but that 
mattered little to Peter. He took his pick, 
and with a few blows he broke the hinges and 
fastenings, and lifted the lid from its place. 
At once he gave a loud cry, and fell on his knees 
beside the chest. He and his wife could scarce 
217 


THE DREAMER 


believe in their good fortune. It was brim- 
ming over with golden money, enough to make 
them rich for life. 

They carried the chest into the house, and 
barred the door, and set about counting the 
money, and there was so much of it, they were 
all evening and part of the night counting it. 

That was the way good fortune came to 
Peter, and all by way of a dream. 

Now he and his wife built themselves a great 
house, and had fine food, and coaches, and 
horses, and handsome clothes, and they feasted 
the neighbors, and never a poor man came to 
the door but what they gave him as much food 
as he could eat and a piece of silver to put in 
his pocket. 

One day Peter put on his finest clothes and 
made his wife dress herself in her best, and 
then they stepped into one of their coaches, 
and Peter bade the coachman drive to the town 
where he had stood on the bridge and listened 
to the tailor tell his dream of the chest of money 
buried under the apple tree. 

Peter made the coachman drive up in front 
218 


AN ENGLISH STORY 


of the tailor’s shop, and when the tailor saw 
the coach stopping at his door, and the fine 
people sitting in it, he thought it was some great 
nobleman and his wife, come perhaps to order 
a suit of clothes of him. 

He came out, bowing and smiling and smirk- 
ing, and Peter said to him, “ Do you remember 
me ?” 

“No, your lordship,” answered the tailor, 
still bowing and smiling, “I have not that 
honor, your lordship.” 

Then Peter told him he was the ragged fel- 
low who had stood out there on the bridge 
waiting for good luck to come to him ; and sure 
enough it had, for if it had not been for the 
dream the tailor told him, he would have known 
nothing about the gold buried under the apple 
tree and would never have become the rich 
man he was now. 

When the tailor heard this tale, he was ready 
to tear his hair out, for if he had believed his 
dream he might have found the gold himself 
and have kept a share of it. 

However, Peter gave him a hundred gold 
219 


THE DREAMER 


pieces to comfort him and ordered a fine suit. 
He also promised that after that he would buy 
all his clothes from the tailor and pay him a 
good price for them, so the tailor, too, got 
some good from all the dreaming. 


THE STORY OF HARKA 
An American Indian Tale 

It was evening, and the Indians had gath- 
ered around their camp fires. Among the 
youths sat Harka, the tallest and handsomest 
of them all. 

From the lodge his mother called to him, 
“Harka, go down to the spring in the forest 
and bring me some water.” 

Without moving, Harka answered, “It is 
dark down in the forest, and I am afraid to 
go where it is dark.” 

Then from all the Indians around there rose 
a shout of laughter and of jeering. “He is 
afraid of the dark!” they shouted. “He has 
said it !” And even the children laughed and 
jeered at him. 

Then Harka arose and cried, “You think 
I am a coward, but I will prove to you before 
long that I am as brave as any man in the 
tribe, either youth or warrior.” 


221 


THE STORY OF HARKA 


“How will you prove it, Harka?” they 
mocked at him; and one cried, “Bring us the 
head of Pahundootah ! Then we will believe 
you.” 

Now Pahundootah was a sorcerer, so power- 
ful and wicked that he was the terror of all 
the villages. Even the warriors feared him, and 
women and children shuddered at his name. 

But in his anger Harka answered rashly, 
“I will bring you the head of Pahundootah.” 

Then again the shouts arose, mocking and 
jeering at him. None believed him, but they 
thought him an idle boaster. 

But Harka wrapped his blanket about him 
and went back in silence to his lodge, and the 
sound of laughter followed him, and his heart 
was troubled within him. He had said that 
he would bring them the head of the sorcerer, 
and now unless he kept his promise he would be 
ashamed to face again his people and have them 
taunt him for his boasting. 

Early the next morning Harka arose, and 
without saying anything to any one, he took 
from a bag that hung in the lodge three magic 


222 


AN AMERICAN INDIAN TALE 


arrows belonging to his father, and set out 
upon a journey. He had determined to seek 
out Pahundootah and either slay him or be 
slain. 

All the morning he traveled on without 
stopping, and at noon he shot one of the magic 
arrows high into the air. He carefully noted 
the direction in which it went and then fol- 
lowed, running swiftly and lightly. 

Toward evening he came to where a deer 
lay dead, with the arrow sticking in it. 

Without troubling to withdraw the arrow, 
Harka cut some slices of venison and cooked 
and ate. 

All night he tended the fire that it might 
not die down and leave him in darkness, and 
in the early morning he again set out upon his 
journey. 

At noon he shot his second arrow into the 
air, and toward evening he found it buried 
in the heart of an elk. That night he had elk 
meat for supper, and the next day he went 
on his way, traveling swiftly, but he forgot 
the arrow. 


223 


THE STORY OF HARKA 


He waited till noonday and then shot from 
his bow his third and last arrow. That eve- 
ning he came to where a buffalo lay dead, slain 
by the arrow. Once more he ate and rested 
by the fire, and at dawning he set out again 
upon his journey. 

When noon came he had no arrow to shoot, 
for he had left them all behind him. 

By evening Harka was very hungry, but 
there was nothing for him to eat. 

Suddenly he saw the light of a fire just ahead 
of him. He advanced toward it, slowly and 
cautiously, fearing it might be the encamp- 
ment of some enemy, but he saw no one ex- 
cept an old woman who was stirring something 
in a pot that hung over the fire. Never was 
seen an old woman half so horrible and ter- 
rifying as she. Her face was more like that 
of a skull than of a human being. Her gray 
hair hung down about her like a mat ; her 
eyes were as red as fire, and her nails so long 
that she could hardly close her hands. About 
her neck was a necklace of bones, and about 
her waist a girdle of scalps. 

224 


AN AMERICAN INDIAN TALE 


After looking at her for awhile, Harka was 
about to steal quietly away when, without 
looking up, the old woman called to him, “Come 
nearer to the fire, Harka. Supper is almost 
ready.” 

Harka came forward into the firelight, and 
the old witch, still without looking up, bade 
him be seated. 

Suddenly the scalps about her waist burst 
into a shout of laughter, and the hag joined 
in with them, laughing loudly. Then they 
fell silent, and the old woman too became quiet, 
scowling and muttering to herself as she bent 
over the pot. 

Presently she filled a dish with food and 
brought it to Harka. The youth was hun- 
gry, and in spite of the strange look of the old 
woman, he ate heartily. 

When he had finished, she took away the 
bowl. Again the scalps burst into wild laugh- 
ter, and the hag laughed with them. 

After they were silent, she came over and 
sat down beside Harka and began talking. 

“I know why you have come here, Harka,” 
225 


THE STORY OF HARKA 


she said. “You are in search of Pahundoo- 
tah. I am the Witch Wokonkatonzooeye- 
pekahaichu and Pahundootah is my bitterest 
enemy. I myself cannot destroy him, but 
you may be able to do it with my help. It 
will be a very dangerous business, and you 
will have to be careful. Now sleep, and to- 
morrow I will tell you what you must do in 
order to destroy the sorcerer. ,, 

Harka lay down beside the fire and slept 
soundly. 

The next morning, when he awoke, the 
breakfast was ready, and after he had eaten, 
the old woman went into the lodge and brought 
out a magic pouch. From this she drew a 
leaden comb, a golden cup, and a blade of 
sword grass. She also took from the bag a 
woman’s dress most beautifully shaped and 
colored. 

“Now listen carefully,” said the witch. 
“Only as a maiden can you come near Pah- 
undootah. Put on the dress, and then I will 
comb your hair for you.” 

Harka did as the old witch bade him. He 
226 


AN AMERICAN INDIAN TALE 


dressed himself in the beautiful garments, 
and then the old witch took the leaden comb 
and combed his hair ; and as she combed, 
his hair grew longer and longer until it hung 
down below his knees in beautiful shining tresses. 
His eyes also looked larger, and his face finer, 
so that any one who saw him would have 
thought him a surpassingly beautiful young 
maiden. 

The old witch looked at him and burst into 
laughter, and all the scalps laughed with her. 

Then she gave Harka the golden goblet and 
the blade of sword grass. “Put the grass in 
your girdle,” said she. “With that and that 
alone can Pahundootah’s head be severed from 
his shoulders. Now walk forward until you 
come to a lake with an island in the middle 
of it. Upon that island live the sorcerer and 
his people. As soon as you reach the lake you 
must begin to dip up the water in the golden 
cup. The sorcerer will see the gleam of it and 
come in his canoe to capture you. This you 
must allow him to do, though you must seem 
frightened and reluctant, as would a timid 
227 


THE STORY OF HARKA 


maiden. He will take you back to the island 
with him, and then you must find some way 
to draw him apart from the others and lull 
him to sleep. Then you can cut off his head 
with the blade of grass I have given you and 
escape before the others find what you have 
done / 5 

Harka took the cup and the blade of grass 
she offered him and strode off through the for- 
est in the direction the witch pointed out to 
him. Soon he came out from the forest and 
found himself upon the borders of a wide lake, 
in the midst of which lay an island. 

Harka now walked more slowly and del- 
icately, trying to move with the soft grace of 
a young and timid maiden. 

At the edge of the lake he stooped and 
dipped the cup into the water. The sunlight 
striking on the gold was reflected with a daz- 
zling brightness that could be seen even as far 
as the island. 

Scarcely had he lifted the dripping cup from 
the water when he saw a canoe shoot out from 
among the reeds of the island and come swiftly 
228 


AN AMERICAN INDIAN TALE 

toward the spot where he was standing. In 
it sat the sorcerer Pahundootah, driving it 
forward with strong strokes. 

As Harka looked at him, his heart beat heavy 
within him, for the sorcerer was terrible to 
see, so hideous and cruel and treacherous was 
his appearance. 

But the youth managed to hide his feelings 
and turned aside with the shy and downcast 
air of a timid maiden, and moved slowly 
toward the forest. Charmed by his grace and 
beauty, Pahundootah followed him. He praised 
the pretended maiden’s eyes, her lips, her hair, 
the grace with which she moved, and poured 
words of love into Harka’ s ears, begging him 
to return with him to his island home and share 
his lodge, his food, and fire. 

Harka pretended to hesitate, but finally he 
allowed himself to be persuaded, and enter- 
ing the canoe, he sat down opposite the sor- 
cerer, giving him shy glances and trailing his 
hand through the water. 

Pahundootah was as one bewitched. Hardly 
could he take his eyes from Harka’s beauty. 

229 


THE STORY OF HARKA 


With strong strokes he drove the canoe 
through the water and over to the island. 
Then he took Harka’s hand and led him to 
where a fire was burning and an old hag was 
cooking supper. He spread a robe for his love 
to sit on and threw himself at her feet. The 
hag who was his mother watched them, mutter- 
ing. Again and again she looked suspiciously 
at Harka. At last the supper was cooked. She 
called Harka to come and carry a bowl of it to 
the sorcerer. Harka moved toward her softly, 
trying still to bear himself as a maiden, but the 
old woman watched him suspiciously, and as he 
drew nearer she looked deep into his eyes. 

“ Pahundootah,” she cried, “what magic has 
bewitched you? Can you not see that this 
is no maiden, but a brave and daring war- 
rior who has put on this appearance in order 
to deceive you?” 

Pahundootah sprang to his feet and looked 
at Harka with anger and suspicion, but Harka 
turned away his head with an offended air. 
“Your mother has insulted me,” he said. “She 
is angry because you have brought me here 
230 


AN AMERICAN INDIAN TALE 


and because you have spoken to me of love. 
Now I will go away back to my own tribe 
where I will be free from insults.” 

Slowly he walked away from the fire and 
down toward the reedy shore of the island. 

As Pahundootah watched the grace with which 
he walked and noted again his long and glossy 
hair, he v could not doubt but that his mother 
was mistaken, and that this was really a maiden. 
He followed, begging Harka to turn and smile 
upon him and return with him to the fire. 

“No,” repeated Harka, “your mother has 
insulted me. It is better I should return to 
my own people.” 

By the side of the lake Harka sat down, and 
the sorcerer threw himself down beside him, 
and laid his head in Harka’ s lap. 

Softly Harka passed his fingers through 
Pahundootah’s hair. Lulled by his love and 
the touch of Harka’s fingers, the sorcerer’s 
eyelids closed, and he sank into slumber. Then 
softly the lad drew from his girdle the blade 
of grass the witch had given him and with one 
stroke severed the head of Pahundootah from 


231 


THE STORY OF HARKA 


the body. Swiftly wrapping it in a cloth he 
had brought for that purpose, he sped to where 
the canoe lay among the rushes, and stepping 
into it, he drove it off across the water with 
silent, powerful strokes. 

When he reached the farther shore, he 
turned and looked back. Already lights were 
moving about on the island. The old mother, 
grown suspicious, was hunting for the sorcerer. 
Then suddenly across the water sounded loud 
fierce wails and cries. By that, Harka knew 
they had discovered Pahundootah’s body. 

Without waiting longer, he sped back to the 
camp of the old witch. As she saw him com- 
ing, she began to clap her hands, shouting, 
“You have slain him! You have slain him! 
Harka has slain the enemy of Wokonkaton- 
zooeyepekahaichu !” and all the scalps that 
hung about her shouted with her. “Now,” 
she cried, “you are a great warrior! Now 
no one can laugh at you or scorn you.” 

All that night as Harka lay beside the witch’s 
fire, he could hear, now louder now fainter, 
the cries of Pahundootah’s people, and always, 
232 



When he reached the farther shore, he turned and looked 

back. Page 232 





















































AN AMERICAN INDIAN TALE 


as they sounded louder, the old witch laughed 
with joy, and the scalps laughed with her. 

Early in the morning Harka set out to jour- 
ney back to his tribe. For three days he jour- 
neyed, and then he came within sight of the 
village. It was toward dusk, and the Indians 
were gathered once more about their fires. 
It was the children who saw him first, and 
they shouted, laughing, “Here comes Harka! 
Here comes Harka. Hasten, Harka, or the 
dark may catch you.” And the youths joined 
them in their laughter. “Have you slain the 
sorcerer, Harka ? Have you his head to show 
us ?” 

Then Harka answered proudly, “Look!” 
and uncovering the head, he held it up before 
them. 

For a moment all were silent, gazing awe- 
struck. Then a great shout arose, “He has 
slain him ! Harka has slain Pahundootah ! 
He has brought his head to show us !” 

Then all gathered around him, youths and 
warriors, and the women and the children also, 
and all wondered and hailed him as a hero. 


233 


THE STORY OF HARKA 


And from that time Harka sat no more with 
those of his own age, but with the wise ones 
and the warriors, and joined in their councils, 
and when the old chief died, Harka was chosen 
chief and ruled his tribe and reared up chil- 
dren and killed many enemies. And always 
he was known as Harka, the slayer of Pahun- 
dootah. 


234 


SCHIPPEITARO 
A Japanese Story 

There was once a brave Japanese lad who 
wished to go out into the world and prove his 
courage in some great adventure. His father 
and mother did not say no to this. Instead 
they gave him their blessing, and allowed him 
to set forth. 

For a long time he traveled along, cross- 
ing streams and passing through villages, but 
nowhere did he meet with any adventures. 

One evening, as dusk drew on, he found him- 
self in a dark forest, and he did not know which 
way to turn in order to get out of it. He wan- 
dered this way and that, and always the night 
grew darker and the way rougher, and then 
suddenly, between the tree trunks, he saw a 
red light shine out ; sometimes it shone brighter 
and sometimes dimmer, but never with a steady 
shining. 

He went toward the light, and before long 
235 


SCHIPPEITARO 


he found himself near an old ruined temple 0 
Within a fire was burning, and the temple was 
full of demon cats. They were leaping and 
whirling and dancing around the fire, and as they 
danced they sang. The song had words and they 
sang them over and over again, always the 
same thing. 

At first the lad could not make out what the 
words were, but after he had listened care- 
fully for a while he understood ; and this was 
what they sang : 

“To-night we dance, to-night we sing; 

To-morrow the maiden they will bring.” ^ 

They would sing this over and over and over, 
and then suddenly they would cease their bound- 
ing and whirling, and would stand still and 
all cry together, — 

“But Schippeitaro must not know! 

But Schippeitaro must not know!” 

The lad stayed there for a long time watching 
them, and the longer he watched, the more 
he wondered. 

After a while the fire burned low, they 
bounded less wildly, and their songs were still. 

236 


A JAPANESE STORY 

Then the fire died out, and soon afterward 
the lad fell into a deep sleep. 

When he awoke the next morning, he was 
both cold and stiff, and as he rubbed his eyes 
and looked about him, he thought that all he 
had seen the night before must have been only 
a dream, for the temple lay silent and deserted, 
and there were no signs of the demon cats or 
their revels, except a heap of burned-out ashes 
on the temple floor. 

The lad arose from where he lay and went 
on his way wondering. Not long after he came 
to the edge of the forest and saw before him 
a village. He entered the village and looked 
about him, and everything was in mourning 
and all the people seemed very sad. In front 
of one of the principal houses a great crowd 
had gathered, and from within came a sound 
of weeping and lamenting. 

The lad joined the crowd, and looked in 
through the door of the house. There he saw 
a maiden dressed as though for a festival, but 
she was very pale, and tears were running 
down her face ; an old man and an old woman, 
237 


SCHIPPEITARO 


who seemed to be her father and mother, 
sat one each side of her, holding her hands, 
and they also were weeping, with the tears 
running down their wrinkled faces. Two men 
were busy over a great chest bound around 
with iron, and with iron hasps, and every 
time the old man and woman looked at the 
chest, they shuddered and wept more bit- 
terly than ever. 

This sight made the youth very curious, 
and he turned to a man beside him and asked 
why the village was all in mourning, and why 
the beautiful young girl and her parents were 
weeping so bitterly. 

“Are you a stranger in these parts that you 
ask such questions ?” inquired the man. 

“ I come from beyond the other side of the 
forest, from far away,” replied the youth, “and 
I know nothing of this village or what has hap- 
pened here.” 

“Then I will tell you,” said the man. “Over 
in the forest yonder there dwells a terrible 
demon. Every year he requires that a maiden 
shall be offered up to him as a sacrifice. Many 
238 


A JAPANESE STORY 

of our most beautiful maidens have already been 
sacrificed to him, and to-day it is the turn of 
the one you see within there, and she is the 
fairest of them all/’ 

“But why do not your men go into the for- 
est and try to destroy this demon ?” asked the 
youth. 

“ It would be useless, for we have been told 
and know that no mortal arm can prevail 
against him. He comes, as a cat, to the ruined 
temple over yonder in the forest, and with 
him comes a great company of seeming cats — 
but they also are demons and are his servants/’ 

When the youth heard this, he remembered 
the cats he had seen dancing in the temple 
the night before and the song they had sung ; 
and presently he asked, “Who is Schippei- 
taro ?” 

When he asked this, those around who 
heard him began to laugh. “You speak as 
though Schippeitaro were a man,” said they. 
“Schippeitaro is a great dog that belongs to the 
Prince of this country. The Prince values him 
highly, for he is as big as a lion and twice as 
239 


SCHIPPEITARO 


fierce. Never before was his like seen for 
strength and bigness, nor ever will be again.” 

The youth asked where the Prince kept the 
hound, and as soon as he had learned this, 
he set off walking very rapidly in the direction 
the man pointed out to him. 

After a while he came to a house with a 
walled garden back of it. In this house lived 
the man who had charge of Schippeitaro, and 
the walled garden was for the dog to roam 
about in. 

The youth knocked at the door, and pres- 
ently the keeper of the dog opened it and asked 
him what he wanted. 

“I want to borrow your great hound, Schip- 
peitaro, for the night, and I will pay you well 
for lending him to me,” said the lad. 

“That you will not do,” replied the keeper, 
“for I will not lend him to you. He is the 
favorite dog of the Prince of this country, and 
it would be as much as my life is worth to 
lend him to any one.” 

Then the lad began to bargain with him. 
First he offered the man a third of all his money 
240 


A JAPANESE STORY 

if he might have the dog just until morning ; 
then he offered him the half of all his money, 
and then he offered him all of it. 

That was more than the man could withstand. 
“Very well, ,, said he, “you may take the dog; 
but remember it is only for this one night, and 
you must bring him back the first thing in 
the morning, and you need never ask to bor- 
row him again for I shall not lend him to you.” 

A collar was then put around Schippeitaro’s 
neck, and a chain fastened to it, and the lad 
took the chain in his hand and led the great 
dog back to the village he had just come from. 

When he came to the house where he had 
seen the maiden, they were just about to put 
her in the chest, for that was always the way 
the maidens who were to be sacrificed were 
carried to the temple. 

But the youth bade them stay their hands. 
“Listen to me,” said he, “for I know whereof 
I speak. I have seen these demons, and I 
have a plan by which you may rid yourselves 
of them forever. Instead of the maiden, do 
you put Schippeitaro into the chest, carry 
241 


SCHIPPEITARO 


him to the temple and leave him there. I 
myself will accompany you, and after you have 
gone, I will stay there and watch. Believe 
me, no harm shall come from this, but instead 
it will put an end to your having to offer up 
sacrifices to the demon. ,, 

At first the people would not listen to him, 
but afterward they agreed to do as he wished, 
though they were very much frightened. The 
great hound was put into the chest, the lid 
was fastened, and he was carried away and 
placed in the temple instead of the maiden. 
After that the men hastened back to the vil- 
lage, but the lad hid himself near by to wait 
and watch for the demons as he had promised. 

After a while it grew dark, and then, toward mid- 
night, a dull red fire shone in the temple, and the 
lad saw that it was full of demon cats whirling 
and bounding and singing as they had before, but 
this time there was with them a great fierce black 
cat, larger than any of them, and he was the king 
of them all, and he leaped higher and sang louder 
than any of them. This time their song was of 
how a maiden had been brought to them as a 
242 


A JAPANESE STORY 

sacrifice, and of what a tender morsel she would 
be. Then they all shouted together: 

“And Schippeitaro does not know! 

And Schippeitaro does not know!” 

Nearer and nearer they came to the chest. 
Almost they brushed against it as they whirled 
about it. Then, with a cry, they bounded 
at it, and tore it open. 

At once, out from the box leaped Schippei- 
taro. The demons shrieked at the sight of him 
and the great hound rushed at them and tore 
them. He seized the King Demon by the 
throat and shook him till the life was quite 
shaken out of him. Then he flew at the other 
cats, and when they tried to escape out through 
the doors or windows, the youth stood there 
with his sword and drove them back. 

Many of the demons did Schippeitaro de- 
stroy that night ; many of them he scattered 
over the floor in pieces, and those who escaped 
fled so far away that they were never seen in 
that neighborhood again. 

But the youth returned to the house of the 
parents of the maiden and asked them for her 
243 


SCHIPPEITARO 


hand in marriage, for he had loved her from 
the first moment he had seen her, because of her 
beauty, and her gentle air. Gladly her par- 
ents agreed to give her to him, and the Prince 
himself came to the marriage, bringing with 
him gifts both rich and rare, for he had heard 
of the bravery and wit the youth had shown 
in ridding his people of the demons who had 
distressed them, and he brought Schippeitaro 
with him as a welcome guest. 

After that the youth and his young wife 
returned to his own home, and there they 
lived happy forever after, honored and ad- 
mired by all who knew them. 


244 


EROS AND PSYCHE 
A Greek Tale 

There was once a Princess named Psyche 
who was so beautiful that no one on earth could 
compare with her in fairness. When she went 
abroad the people gathered in crowds to gaze 
upon her, and children strewed flowers before 
her and offered her garlands, as though she 
were a goddess. 

Now when Aphrodite, herself the Goddess 
of Beauty, heard of this, she became very jeal- 
ous of Psyche, and she called to her Eros, her son 
who was the God of Love, and bade him cause 
Psyche to fall in love with the ugliest and wick- 
edest man in all the world. 

“ In this way she shall be punished for her 
pride and for her beauty,” said Aphrodite, 
who was herself most proud and beautiful. 

Now Eros was very curious to see this beauty 
of beauties, and so, in invisible form, he 
visited the palace of Psyche’s father and went 
245 


EROS AND PSYCHE 


from room to room until he came to where 
she sat with her two sisters. They were all 
beautiful, but Psyche so far outshone the 
others that they seemed pale beside her. 

No sooner had Eros looked upon her, than 
he fell deeply in love with her and determined 
to make her his bride. He therefore put it 
into her father’s mind to consult an oracle as 
to what should be done with Psyche, for al- 
ready the King was fearful, lest her beauty 
bring down upon him the anger of the gods. 

So the King traveled secretly to the temple of 
Phoebus at Miletus, and there he consulted the 
oracle ; the oracle told him that Psyche must 
be taken to the top of a high mountain and there 
left to be devoured by a monster that the gods 
would send, and that in this way, and this way 
alone, could the whole kingdom be saved from 
destruction. 

When the King heard this, his heart was 
heavy within him, for of all his daughters 
Psyche was the dearest to him, so he returned 
home very sorrowful. The two older sisters 
cared little for his sadness, but Psyche, who 
246 


A GREEK TALE 


loved him tenderly, was grieved, and she went 
to him and said, “My father, why are you so 
sorrowful and downcast ?” 

For a long time the King would not tell her 
what it was that troubled him, but she was 
so urgent in her questions that at last he could 
keep silence no longer, and he said, “My daugh- 
ter, thy beauty is so great that it has drawn 
upon us the anger of the gods, and even Aphro- 
dite herself is jealous of thee. The oracle 
at Miletus has spoken and has told me that 
I and thou and thy sisters and all the city with 
us will be destroyed, unless a certain sacrifice 
is made.” 

Then Psyche asked him what was the sac- 
rifice the gods demanded, and her father an- 
swered, “Thou thyself, Psyche, art the sacrifice.” 

When Psyche heard that, she cried aloud 
with terror, but presently she asked her father 
how she was to be sacrificed, and he told her 
what else the oracle had said, that she was 
to be taken out to a high mountain and left 
there to be devoured by a monster the gods 
would send. 


247 


EROS AND PSYCHE 


Then Psyche wept bitterly, but at last she 
said, “It is better that one should perish than 
that all should be destroyed together. So let 
the sacrifice be made, even as the oracle has 
directed.” 

Then, soon afterward, Psyche was made 
ready ; she was dressed as a bride, in shining 
garments, and hung about with jewels, and 
at the time set by the oracle, she was taken 
out and left alone upon the mountain. None 
might stay to comfort her or to watch with 
her for the coming of the monster. 

But no sooner was she alone than Eros caused 
her to fall into a deep sleep, and while she slept 
he carried her away to a secret palace he had 
prepared for her. All about the palace were 
gardens, with shining temples and fountains 
and winding paths and trees that bore all sorts 
of strange and delicious fruits. The palace 
itself was very beautiful. The walls were of 
ivory and cedar, and the roof was of gold. The 
ceilings were of shining blue, set with precious 
stones like stars, and the pillars that supported 
it were also of gold, wrought with shapes of 
248 


A GREEK TALE 


flowers and leaves and birds ; and the floor was of 
stones of beautiful colors set in strange patterns. 

It was in this palace that Psyche awakened 
and, wondering, looked about her. 

Suddenly the voices of unseen maidens spoke 
to her sweetly, bidding her have no fear. “We 
are your servants, Psyche,” they told her. 
“This palace, these gardens, and we who are 
to serve you are the gift of one who loves you. 
He desires only your happiness, and for you 
to be his bride.” 

Then all fear left Psyche, and she rose up 
and wandered through the gardens, and from 
room to room of the palace, and everywhere 
she saw new beauties. Soft music followed 
her, and in one place a feast of strange and 
delicious foods and drinks was served to her, 
but she saw no one. Everything was done 
for her by invisible hands. 

All day Psyche amused herself by examining 
the beautiful things about the palace and gar- 
den, and then, as night drew on, and she became 
weary, she laid herself down upon a magnif- 
icent couch that had been prepared for her. 

249 


EROS AND PSYCHE 


Then suddenly, in the darkness, Psyche 
heard footsteps coming nearer and nearer. 
Filled with terror, she listened. She feared 
it was the monster that the gods were to send, 
and that it was coming now to destroy her. 
But a voice, softer and sweeter than any she 
had ever heard, spoke to her out of the dark- 
ness, bidding her have no fear. 

“I am thy own true lover, Psyche,” said the 
voice. “It is for thee I prepared this palace 
and these gardens. Only love me in return, 
and our happiness will be so great that even 
the gods themselves can know no greater.” 

Then Psyche was filled with joy and with 
love for the one who spoke to her so tenderly, 
and who had prepared all this happiness for 
her. 

All night he stayed with her, and they held 
sweet talk together, but in the early morning, 
before it was light, he left her, and she knew 
nothing of how this unknown lover looked, 
but only that he was wise and kind and 
tender. 

Now every day Psyche wandered through 
250 


A GREEK TALE 

the gardens or amused herself in the palace, 
and feasted and heard sweet music, and was 
served in every thing by unseen hands, and 
every night her unknown lover came to her, 
but always he left before the morning and so 
she never saw him. 

For a long time Psyche was very happy, 
but after a while she began to think of her father 
and her sisters, and her heart yearned for them 
so that she became sad and lonely. 

One night she said to her lover, “Am I never 
again to see my father, nor the sisters who are 
so dear to me ?” 

Then the unknown one asked her, “Are 
you so soon weary of me, Psyche ?” 

“I am not weary of you,” answered the 
Princess, “but I long with all my heart to see 
my sisters that I may know that it is well with 
them, and that they may know that it is well 
with me also. If I could see them but once 
only, then I would be contented.” 

Her unknown lover was silent for a while, 
and then he said. “I love you so dearly that 
I can refuse you nothing, Psyche. I will bring 
251 


EROS AND PSYCHE 


your sisters here to visit you, but they may 
stay with you only for three days, and you 
must tell them nothing of me, however they 
may question you, and if they offer you advice, 
you must not take it. Do not even listen to 
it. Remember, if you disobey me, great sor- 
row will come upon you and upon me also.” 

Psyche was filled with joy at the thought 
that she was once more to see her sisters, and 
eagerly she promised to heed the warnings of 
her lover and to obey him in all things. But 
all night Eros (for it was he who was her lover) 
was very sad and silent, for he feared that this 
wish of Psyche’s would bring some misfortune 
on them. 

The next night Eros caused Psyche’s sisters 
to fall into a deep sleep, and while they were 
sleeping Zephyrus, who governs the winds, 
lifted them up and carried them to a room in 
Psyche’s palace and left them there. 

In the morning, when the sisters awoke, 
they were amazed to find themselves in an 
unknown palace, and their wonder was even 
greater when Psyche came hastening to greet 
252 


A GREEK TALE 


them, and when they found the palace and all 
that was in it and the gardens round about 
it were hers, and were all the gift of a lover, 
who had brought her there the day she was 
left upon the mountain. 

Psyche questioned them about their father 
and all that had happened since she had left 
them, and after she had heard all there was to 
tell, she took them through the palace and 
showed them the treasures, and led them 
through the gardens, and they heard the music, 
and were served by unseen hands. The more 
they saw, the more they wondered, and they 
became very envious of Psyche. They asked 
her about the one who had given her all these 
things, but Psyche turned these questions aside 
and would not talk with them of her lover. 

At the end of three days, when the time came 
for her sisters to leave her, Psyche bade them 
choose what they would have of all they had 
seen in the palace. She loaded them with jewels 
and treasures, and nothing they asked for was 
refused them. Then they fell asleep, and in 
their sleep Zephyrus carried them back again 
2 53 


EROS AND PSYCHE 


to their father’s castle, to the place whence 
he had brought them, and the gifts that Psyche 
had given them he left beside them. 

After this Psyche was contented for a time 
and then once more she began to long to see 
her sisters, and she begged Eros to bring them 
to visit her as before. 

“Psyche, do not ask me,” said Eros. “I 
feel that if they come again, some misfortune 
will surely fall upon us.” 

But still Psyche begged and entreated him 
to bring them to her, until he could refuse no 
longer. Again he caused the sisters to fall into a 
deep sleep, and again Zephyrus bore them to 
the palace where Psyche awaited them. 

But this time the sisters brought but little 
joy with them. All the while they had been 
away they had been growing more and more 
envious of Psyche, so that now they could 
scarcely hide from her their jealousy of her 
good fortune. 

“Why should Psyche have all these things,” 
said they to each other, “and we have nothing 
except such gifts as she is pleased to make to us ?” 
254 


A GREEK TALE 


Then they began to talk to her about her 
husband. “He must be some horrible mon- 
ster, said they. “Otherwise why should he 
only come in darkness and never let you see 
him ? No doubt he is the very monster for 
whom you were left upon the mountain. Oh, 
Psyche ! Your fate is surely most unhappy 
in that you are married to such a creature.” 

At first Psyche tried not to listen to them, 
but still they talked and whispered until at 
last she became frightened, and each night 
she dreaded the coming of her husband, fear- 
ing he was indeed some monster, and that, 
in the end, he would devour her. 

Then came the last night that her sisters 
were to be with her, and just before they went 
to rest they called Psyche to their chamber 
and gave her a lamp and a dagger. 

“Dearest sister, we wish, if possible to save 
you/’ said they. “Here are a lamp and a 
dagger. To-night, when your husband is sleep- 
ing, you must rise quietly from his side and 
take the lamp and look at him. Then if, as 
we believe, you find he is a monster, drive this 
255 


EROS AND PSYCHE 


dagger into his heart. So you will rid the 
world of him and save yourself alive, for unless 
3^ou do this, he will certainly sometime destroy 
you.” 

Trembling Psyche took the lamp and the 
dagger and promised to hide them in the little 
room that was beyond her sleeping chamber 
and to use the dagger as they directed if she 
found that what they feared were so. Then 
she kissed her sisters farewell, for she knew 
the time had come for them to leave her. 

That night Eros came to Psyche as usual, 
and she let him know nothing of what she and 
her sisters had planned against him. He was 
so gentle toward her, and so tender that she 
could not but love him, and then she remem- 
bered her sisters’ warnings and hardened her 
heart against him. 

She waited until he was sleeping, and then 
she slipped away and took up the lamp in one 
hand and the dagger in the other. Returning, 
she held the lamp above him and looked down 
at him. 

What were her joy and awe and wonder to 
256 


A GREEK TALE 


find it was no monster, but Eros, the God of 
Love himself who was her husband. 

As she still bent above him, entranced by 
his beauty, one drop of hot oil from the lamp 
fell upon his shoulder. 

Then Eros sprang up from his slumbers and 
looked at her with grief and indignation. 

“What have you done ! ” he cried. “Oh, 
unhappy one ! Why did you not obey my 
warnings ? Now I must leave you, and grief 
and sorrow must be your portion. Farewell, 
unhappy Psyche/’ 

With these words he vanished from before 
her, and at the same time the palace and the 
gardens and all that were in them faded away 
like the mist of the morning. 

Psyche was alone upon a wide and desolate 
plain. Dawn was breaking, and a cold wind 
blew about her. 

“Eros! Eros!” cried Psyche; but no one 
answered. 

Then Psyche wept aloud in bitter despair ; 
and she rose and wrapped her garments about 
her against the wind and set off across the plain. 

257 


EROS AND PSYCHE 

For a long time she journeyed on, but whither 
she knew not, until at last she came to a wood 
and heard a sound of piping. She followed 
the sound and presently came to a place where 
the god Pan sat, playing upon his pipes, and 
all about him creatures of the wood, both large 
and small, had gathered to listen to his music. 

Then Psyche cried to him in her grief. “Oh, 
Pan, you who wander far and near, tell me 
where is Eros, that I may follow him and find 
him. ,, 

But Pan answered, “I know not, Psyche. 
Ask Demeter, the Earth-mother. She is very 
wise, and if he is on this earth, she is the one 
who can tell you where to find him.” 

So Psyche went on farther and came to where 
Demeter, the kind Earth-mother, was watch- 
ing the fields and meadows and the harvesters 
at their work. 

Then Psyche said to her, “Oh, Demeter, 
you who know all things, tell me where my 
husband Eros has fled to that I may follow 
and find him.” 

The Earth-mother answered, “He is not on 
258 


A GREEK TALE 


earth, Psyche. When the hot oil fell upon him 
and burned him, he fled back to Olympus, the 
home of the gods, for it is there his mother 
Aphrodite dwells. Now he is with her, for 
she and she alone can heal the wound that you 
have caused him.” 

Then Psyche wept even more bitterly still, 
and she said, “I will go to Aphrodite and tell 
her of my grief and sorrow, and then it may 
be that she will let me speak with Eros, and 
that he will forgive me.” 

But Demeter replied, “ Be careful, Psyche, 
for Aphrodite hates you with a bitter hatred, 
and if she could she would gladly destroy you. 
Eros, too, is angry with you, and you can hardly 
hope he will forgive you, for you have caused 
him great sorrow and suffering.” 

“ Nevertheless,” said Psyche, “I will go to 
Aphrodite, for unless Eros will forgive me and 
take me back into his love, I do not care to 
live.” 

So Psyche journeyed on and on until at 
last she came to Olympus and to the place 
where Aphrodite had her dwelling. When the 
259 


EROS AND PSYCHE 


goddess saw Psyche she was glad at heart, 
for she thought, “Now Psyche has come to 
me it will be a strange thing if I cannot get 
her entirely into my power and punish her 
as she deserves. ” But even as she thought 
thus, she wondered at Psyche’s beauty, for it 
wa$ very great. 

Then Psyche asked if she might speak with 
Eros, but the goddess answered harshly, “Eros 
has no wish to see you. You deceived and 
wounded him so that he fled to me for comfort. 
But I will set you a task to prove you, and if 
you can perform it, then perhaps I will speak 
of you to Eros and plead with him to forgive 
you ; but if you fail, then you shall give yourself 
over to me, for me to do with you as I please.” 

And Psyche answered, “ No task is too hard 
for me if only Eros will forgive me.” 

So Aphrodite took her into a room where 
there was a great heap of every kind of grain, 
barley and millet and wheat and poppy and 
beans and many others, and they were all 
mixed together so that it was difficult to tell 
one from another. 


260 


A GREEK TALE 


Then Aphrodite said, “Your task is to sep- 
arate these seeds one from another. Each 
kind must be put by itself in a separate heap, 
and all this must be done before evening.” 
So saying, Aphrodite turned away and left 
her. 

As Psyche looked at the heap of grain, she 
knew the task that Aphrodite had set her was 
one that it was impossible to perform, and she 
was frightened at the thought of what Aphrodite 
might do to her if she failed. 

Now though Eros was still angry with 
Psyche, he had no wish to leave her entirely 
to the cruelty of his mother, so he sent an army 
of ants to help her. Thousands upon thou- 
sands he sent, and the ants seized the grains 
and dragged them apart, each kind to itself, 
while Psyche watched and wondered. As if 
by magic the heap was separated, and each 
kind of grain was gathered off by itself, and 
when the task was finished the ants disappeared 
again ; not one of them was left. 

Toward evening Aphrodite came to the room 
where she had left Psyche, and her heart was 
261 


EROS AND PSYCHE 


filled with triumph, for she had no doubt but 
that she would find the task unfinished and 
would then have the Princess in her power. 

But what was her rage and wonder to find 
the grains separated and lying in different heaps 
about the room, each kind by itself as she had 
commanded. 

“And now will you ask Eros to forgive me ?” 
asked Psyche timidly. 

But Aphrodite answered, “Wait until to- 
morrow. Then we will talk of it. ,, 

But the next day the goddess set another 
task for Psyche. She bade her go out to where 
her sheep were pastured, and fetch her back 
a bagful of their golden wool. 

Now the sheep of Aphrodite were very fierce 
and terrible, so that no one might approach 
them without being torn to pieces. This Psyche 
knew, but she thought, “ Better to perish at once 
than suffer from the wrath of Aphrodite.” 

So she took the bag the goddess gave her 
and set out for the pasture. But on the way 
she met Pan, and he had pity on her because 
of her beauty and her sorrow. 

262 


A GREEK TALE 


“ Psyche, do not venture near the pasture,” he 
warned her. “Wait until evening when the sheep 
are resting and then turn aside into yonder wood, 
and gather the wool you will find there in the 
thickets ; for in the heat of the day the sheep take 
shelter there, and their wool catches on the thorns 
and briers and is torn from them.” 

Gratefully Psyche thanked him for his ad- 
vice, and she waited until on toward evening, 
and then stole into the wood and there about 
her, on thorny branches, glittered the tufts 
of golden wool the sheep had left behind them. 
Psyche gathered them, handful after handful, 
until her bag was full, and then she hastened 
back with it to Aphrodite. 

When the goddess saw that again Psyche 
had succeeded, her heart was hot within her. 
But when the Princess asked her, “Will you 
not yet plead for me with Eros ?” the goddess 
answered, “Wait until to-morrow. It may 
be that he himself may wish to see you.” 

But on the morrow it was a new task that 
she set for Psyche. She gave her a crystal 
urn, and bade her take it to the fountain of 
263 


EROS AND PSYCHE 


Oblivion, and there fill it with water, and fetch 
it back with her. 

Now the fountain of Oblivion flows forth 
black and cold as ice from a deep crevice in 
a rock at the top of a high mountain, and the 
rock is so steep that it is impossible for any 
human being to climb it. Thence the waters 
pour down through a deep channel, and this 
channel is guarded on either side by dragons 
that never sleep. 

Psyche took the urn and set forth upon her 
journey, and as she journeyed on her way she 
wept, for she knew that no one could go near 
the stream of Oblivion and live, because of the 
dragons that guarded it. 

But once more Eros had pity on her, and 
he asked of Zeus, the All-Father, that he would 
lend him his eagle, that it might take the urn 
and carry it to the fountain and fill it, and 
return with it to Psyche. 

Zeus, the All-Father did not refuse, and so 
as Psyche sat resting by the wayside, the eagle 
swept down upon her, and caught the urn from 
her hand, and flew away with it. 

264 


A GREEK TALE 


And now Psyche believed she was indeed 
lost, for how could she return to Aphrodite 
and tell her that not only had she failed to 
fetch the water, but that the crystal urn had 
been stolen from her also. 

But while she stood there, afraid either to 
return or to go forward, she heard again a great 
beating of wings, and the eagle returned to 
her. She saw that he still had the urn, but 
now it was full of the dark and icy water for 
which she had been sent. 

Then Psyche rejoiced and took the urn from 
the eagle and hastened back to Aphrodite. 
When the goddess saw that once more Psyche 
had fulfilled her bidding, her brow grew black 
with fury. 

“One more task, and one more only will 
I set you,” said the goddess. “Take this box 
and journey to the lower regions where Per- 
sephone is Queen; beg from her a bit of her 
beauty and bring it back to me in this box, 
for the Feast of the Gods is soon to be given, 
and I wish to adorn myself with it.” 

And now Psyche indeed believed herself 
265 


EROS AND PSYCHE 


lost, for never had human being journeyed 
to those lower regions where Persephone was 
Queen and returned again to the green earth 
above. In her despair she thought, “ Better 
that I should perish at once than suffer longer 
from the anger of Aphrodite,” and she went up to 
the top of a high tower, intending to throw her- 
self from it and so put an end to her sorrows. 

But this tower was an enchanted place, 
and when she had climbed to the top of it, 
a voice spoke to her and bade her take courage. 

“It is possible to do as Aphrodite has com- 
manded and still live,” said the voice. “Only 
listen carefully and do in all things as thou 
shalt now be directed, and thou mayest win 
for her the beauty she asks.” 

The voice then told her N she must go to the 
city of Achaia. Near to it was a mountain ; 
in this mountain was a gap, narrow and dark, 
and from this gap a pathway led down to the 
lower regions where Persephone was Queen. 
It was this path that Psyche must follow. 

“ But take with thee in thy mouth two pieces 
of silver money,” said the voice, “and in each 
266 


A GREEK TALE 


hand a piece of barley bread soaked in honey, 
for these thou wilt need if thou wouldst reach 
the palace of Persephone in safety.” The 
voice also told her that after she had followed 
the path for a short distance, she would meet 
an old man driving a lame ass loaded with 
wood. This old man would beg and beseech 
her to help him, but she must pay no heed, but 
pass on in silence, for it was Aphrodite who 
would send him there to tempt her to give up 
either the bread or money. 

Soon after she would come to the great black 
river Styx, and there she would find the boat- 
man Charon waiting. He it is who ferries 
the souls of the dead across the water. After 
she had entered the boat she was to allow Charon 
to take from her lips one of the two pieces of 
money in payment for ferrying her over. As 
she crossed a face would rise above the water 
and beg her for the other piece of money, but 
still she must keep silence and pay no heed 
to any entreaties, for this face also was a snare 
set for her by Aphrodite, to make her give 
up the other piece of money. 

2 67 


EROS AND PSYCHE 


After she had crossed the river, she would 
see before her the palace of Persephone, and 
at the gate the fierce three-headed dog Cer- 
berus, who stands ever guarding it against 
those who would enter. To him she must 
give a piece of the bread, still without speak- 
ing, and then he would allow her to pass 
by him. 

She would then be brought before Perseph- 
one, but here, also, would danger await her. 
A feast would be set before her, and she would 
be urged to eat, but no crumb or drop must 
pass her lips, for whosoever eats or drinks with 
Persephone may never again return from her 
palace to the green world of sunshine above. 
But if she were steadfast and neither ate nor 
drank, nor spoke one word, Persephone would 
give her in the box the beauty that Aphrodite 
desired. Then on her return she must give the 
second piece of bread to Cerberus, that he might 
let her pass, and to Charon the other piece of 
money, that he might ferry her over in safety. 

“But oh, Psyche, open not the box, nor 
look within it,” counseled the voice, “for if 
268 


A GREEK TALE 


thou shouldst raise the lid, then all thy labors 
will have been in vain, and the wrath of 
Aphrodite will surely overtake thee.” 

Until the voice was silent, Psyche stood and 
listened, and all that was said she stored away 
in her heart and remembered ; and when it 
was still she came down at once from the tower 
and set out for the city of Achaia. 

Long and rough was the journey, but at last 
she came to the city, and there she procured 
for herself the two pieces of silver money and 
the barley bread soaked with honey. With 
these she set out for the mountain that lay 
over beyond the city. There she found the 
gap of which the voice had told her, and she 
followed the path that led down from it, and 
always away from the green and sunlit world 
above her and toward the darker world of the 
lower regions where Persephone reigns. 

Before she had gone far, she met the old man 
driving the ass, even as the voice had warned 
her, and he looked so poor and miserable, and 
begged so piteously for help, that Psyche’s heart 
melted within her, and she longed to give him 
269 


EROS AND PSYCHE 


either bread or money; but she remembered 
the voice and its warnings and passed by 
him without speaking. 

Soon she came to the river, and saw the boat 
lying there, and the dark boatman Charon. 
She stepped into the boat, and he took from 
her lips one of the pieces of silver. In silence 
he rowed her out upon the river. 

Then up through the water rose a face, and 
two hands were stretched out to her ; and it 
seemed to Psyche the face was the face of her 
father. He begged and pleaded with her to 
give him the other piece of money, that Charon 
might row him also across the water. 

Then it seemed to Psyche that it would 
break her heart to refuse him, but again she 
remembered the voice that had warned her, 
and she knew that the face and the hands were 
only an appearance caused by Aphrodite, and 
that it was sent there to tempt her so that she 
would give up her money and never be able 
to return from those lower regions. So she 
kept silence, and the face and hands sank back 
under the water out of her sight. 

270 



Soon she came to the river, and saw the boat lying there. 

Page 270 









































































•- 

























A GREEK TALE 


Soon after she came to the other side of the 
river and stepped out from the boat ; there she 
saw before her a palace more beautiful than any 
she had ever beheld except the one where she 
had lived in joy with Eros. But before the 
gateway stood the three-headed dog Cerberus, 
and his appearance was very terrible, and his 
barkings so loud and fierce that Psyche 
trembled. 

Then she threw to him one of the pieces of 
bread soaked in honey, and at once he was 
silent and allowed her to pass by him and enter 
the palace. 

There within the palace everything was 
very beautiful, but the most beautiful thing 
in it was Persephone. She made Psyche wel- 
come, and soft cushions were given her to rest 
on, and a magnificent feast was set before her. 
Psyche looked at it with longing. 

“Eat, my child, ” said Persephone, “for your 
journey has been long, and this food and drink 
will refresh you.” But Psyche refused. 

Then at last Persephone said, “I know why 
you have come, — that it is to carry back with 
271 


EROS AND PSYCHE 

you a portion of my beauty. Give me the box 
you brought with you.” 

Half doubting her, Psyche gave her the box 
and Persephone took it and went away ; but 
soon she returned again and gave the box back 
into Psyche’s hands. 

“Take it,” said Persephone. “Well and wisely 
hast thou performed thy task. Now return 
to Aphrodite and give her the box, for in it is 
the beauty for which she sent thee.” 

Then Psyche, still in silence, took the box, 
and hastened away from the castle and re- 
turned the way she had come. When Cer- 
berus raised his dreadful barking, she threw 
him the other piece of bread, and he was silent 
and allowed her once more to pass in safety. 

Soon she came again to the river, and found 
the dark boatman waiting, and she entered his 
boat, and he took from her the second piece 
of money and rowed her back to the other side. 

There Psyche left him and followed in haste 
along the path that led to the upper world 
and sunlight, but on the way she was weary 
and sat down to rest. Then she looked at the 
272 


A GREEK TALE 


box she carried, and more and more she longed 
to see the gift of beauty that Persephone had 
sent to Aphrodite. At last her curiosity grew 
so great that it was like a fire burning her, and 
she could bear it no longer, but opened the 
box and looked inside. 

Then at once the beauty that was in it rose 
like a pale mist and hovered over Psyche’s 
head, and she fell into a deep slumber. 

Now indeed the wrath of Aphrodite would 
have destroyed her as she lay there helpless, 
had not Eros come to her to protect and save 
her. For he was now cured of his wound, and 
his love for Psyche had returned, and his pain 
and the anger he had felt toward her were for- 
gotten. So he came to where she lay, and 
caught her up, and carried her to Zeus, who 
reigns high on Olympus. And Eros entreated 
Zeus to protect Psyche from the anger of his 
mother and to make her also a goddess, so that 
she need no longer fear Aphrodite. 

To this Zeus consented, and he touched 
Psyche, and woke her from her sleep, and 
made of her a goddess. 

273 


EROS AND PSYCHE 

Then she was made welcome by all the other 
gods and goddesses, and Aphrodite was obliged 
to give up her anger, for it is the will of Zeus 
that there shall be peace among all those who 
dwell on high Olympus. 

After that a great marriage feast was pre- 
pared in honor of Eros and Psyche, and to it 
came all the gods and goddesses, and drank 
and feasted. Then Eros took his bride away 
to a palace that Zeus had given them, and 
which was even more magnificent than the one 
where Eros had first carried Psyche ; and there 
they lived together in great joy and happiness. 

But Psyche’s two sisters were punished as 
they deserved, for Eros appeared to each one 
of them in a dream and promised that if she 
would go to the top of a high cliff and throw 
herself over, then he would take her as a wife 
in place of Psyche. Each of them believed her 
dream, and each secretly, and unknown to 
the other, went to the cliff and threw herself 
over, and so perished miserably. 

But Psyche lived happy forever after in the 
palace in high Olympus with her husband Eros. 

274 




Fairy Tales from Old Worlds Across the Seas 


TALES OF FOLK 
AND FAIRIES 


By KATHARINE PYLE 

Author of 

“Wonder Tales Retold,” “In the Green Forest,” etc. 

With Illustrations by the author. 


From the old worlds across the seas come these fairy tales, — 
from Scotland and Scandinavia, from the Cossacks and the 
Russians and the Serbians, from Persia and India and Arabia 
and Bengal. There are stories of enchanted princes and be- 
witched princesses, of brave deeds and clever ones, of won- 
derful things like talking eggs and a magic pipe and a carpet 
that flew and a turban that made its wearer invisible. There 
are tales for boys, like that one of the brave lad who killed 
the “Stoorworm”; there are stories for girls, as that one 
about the wise girl who could guess the hardest riddle the 
King could ask. And there are stories about animals and 
birds for both boys and girls, such as “The Jackal and the 
Alligator” and the story of the beautiful black horse that be- 
friended the widow’s son. 

They have all been translated directly from the folk-lore 
of these far-away countries and tell of the wonderful things 
that used to happen there commonly enough when the world 
was young and people had not lost their faith in witches and 
enchantments. American children will enjoy them quite as 
much as do their little cousins across the water. 


LITTLE, BROWN & CO., Publishers 
34 Beacon Street, Boston 


Fjjieen old-world, fairy tales , taken from the folk-lore qf 
a dozen different lands 


TALES OF WONDER 
AND MAGIC 


By KATHARINE PYLE 

Author of 

4 ‘ Wonder Tales Retold,” In the Green Forest,” 
Tales of Folk and Fairies,” etc. 


With illustrations by the author. 
12 mo. Cloth. 314 pages 


This volume of fairy tales includes stories from Ireland, 
Wales, Japan, the East Indies, Sweden, Denmark, etc. They 
tell of enchanted princes and princesses, of brave and wonder- 
ful deeds, of magic worked by evil demons and overcome by 
the greater power of good spirits. 

Sometimes there is a beautiful princess to be rescued; 
sometimes a fortune to be won; sometimes a hard task to be 
performed, — an impossible feat for ordinary lads and lassies. 
But in fairy tales nothing is impossible to youth and beauty 
and courage, so these shepherd lads and princesses, kings’ 
sons and peasant maidens set forth on their wonderful ad- 
ventures with brave hearts, and always win through to safety. 
They are the sort of stories to enthrall the young folk of to-day. 


LITTLE, BROWN & CO., Publishers 
34 Beacon Street, Boston 













































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